What does “family” mean?
- 1
nouna group of people who are related, especially parents and their children
I spend every Sunday with my family.
- 2
nouna group of related animals, plants or languages
Lions belong to the cat family.
Family at a glance
- Part of speech
- noun
- CEFR level
- A1 (beginner)
- Pronunciation
- /ˈfæməli/ · FAM-uh-lee
- Forms
- families
How to use “family” correctly
“Run in the family” means many people in a family have the same quality: “Red hair runs in our family.”
Common phrases with “family”
- start a family
- family member
- run in the family
- close family
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Synonyms (similar meaning)
- relatives
- household
Word family
- familiar
“family” is on these word lists
Learn these words next
- age nounA1the number of years someone has lived or something has existed
- baby nounA1a very young child or animal
- boy nounA1a male child or young man
- brother nounA1a boy or man with the same parents as you
- child nounA1a young person who is not yet an adult
- daughter nounA1a person’s female child
- father nounA1a male parent
- friend nounA1a person you know well and like, who is not a family member