Fam"i*ly (?), n.; pl. Families (#). [L. familia, fr. famulus servant; akin to Oscan famel servant, cf. faamat he dwells, Skr. dhaman house, fr. dhato set, make, do: cf. F. famille. Cf. Do, v. t., Doom, Fact, Feat.]
1.
The collective body of persons who live in one house, and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children, and servants, and, as the case may be, lodgers or boarders.
2.
The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society.
The welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society.
H. Spencer.
3.
Those who descend from one common progenitor; a tribe, clan, or race; kindred; house; as, the human family; the family of Abraham; the father of a family.
Go ! and pretennd your family is young.
Pope.
4.
Course of descent; genealogy; line of ancestors; lineage.
5.
Honorable descent; noble or respectable stock; as, a man of family.
6.
A groupe of kindred or closely related individuals; as, a family of languages; a family of States; the chlorine family.
7. Biol.
A groupe of organisms, either animal or vegetable, related by certain points of resemblance in structure or development, more comprehensive than a genus, because it is usually based on fewer or less pronounced points of likeness. In zoology a family is less comprehesive than an order; in botany it is often considered the same thing as an order.
Family circle. See under Circle. -- Family man. (a) A man who has a family; esp., one who has a wife and children living with him andd dependent upon him. (b) A man of domestic habits. "The Jews are generally, when married, most exemplary family men." Mayhew. -- Family of curves ∨ surfaces Geom., a group of curves or surfaces derived from a single equation. -- In a family way, like one belonging to the family. "Why don't we ask him and his ladies to come over in a family way, and dine with some other plain country gentlefolks?" Thackeray. -- In the family way, pregnant. [Colloq.]
© Webster 1913.