family

People who are related to each other through birth or marriage.

• My family lives nearby.
• All our cousins came to the family reunion.
• Do you have family in this town?

Similar words: relatives, kin

Common phrases: extended family, family member, family reunion

A married mother and father living together with their children.

• Our family has four members.
• The family moved when their youngest child started school.
• Both parents work to support their family.

Similar words: nuclear family

Common phrases: nuclear family, family home, family of four

A group of languages that developed from the same earlier language.

• English belongs to the Germanic language family.
• These languages come from the same family.
• Linguists studied several branches of the language family.

How to use it: a family of languages (These belong to a family of languages spoken across Asia.)

Common phrases: language family, family of languages

A group of related plants or animals, smaller than an order and larger than a genus.

• Lions belong to the cat family.
• This plant is in the rose family.
• The biologist compared species from two different families.

How to use it: belong to the … family (Lions belong to the cat family.)

Similar words: familia

Common phrases: rose family, cat family, family of plants

Suitable for both children and adults.

• We watched a family film.
• This hotel offers family entertainment every evening.
• They opened a family restaurant near the park.

Similar words: family-friendly

Common phrases: family film, family restaurant, family entertainment

Used within some gay communities to describe another gay person.

• I think he is family.
• She quietly asked whether I was family.
• They recognized each other as family at the club.

Similar words: gay

Common phrases: be family, also family