family
a social unit living together
How often you will meet it
Rank 375 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 52,902 times across 155,370 chapters — 0.025% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 500 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
noun
- a social unit living together also: household, house, home, menage he moved his family to VirginiaIt was a good Christian household
- primary social group; parents and children also: family unit he wanted to have a good job before starting a family
- a collection of things sharing a common attribute also: class, category there are two classes of detergents
- people descended from a common ancestor also: family line, folk, kinfolk, kinsfolk, sept, phratry his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower
- a person having kinship with another or others also: kin, kinsperson he's kinhe's family
- (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera sharks belong to the fish family
family in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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It was a blow to us--to family pride.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1
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I was born at York, in the year 1632, of a reputable family.
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures · Daniel Defoe · Chapter 1
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At Ion the family were gathering about the table to partake of their morning meal.
Christmas with Grandma Elsie · Martha Finley · Chapter 1
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At the death of your mother and myself, you will have no family ties in England--nothing to recall you here.
A Knight of the White Cross · G. A. (George Alfred) Henty · Chapter 1
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Hamp Biscoe, it appears, was a hard working, thrifty farmer, who lived near England, Arkansas, upon a small farm with his family.
The Red Record Tabulated Statistics · Ida B. Wells-Barnett · Chapter 1