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Definition of family adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

family

adjective
 
 
/ˈfæməli/
 
/ˈfæməli/
[only before noun]
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  1.  
     connected with the family or a particular family
    • family life
    • The job was starting to affect his family life.
    • your family background
    • Only close family members called her ‘Sally’.
    • a family friend (= a friend of the whole family)
    • family ties/connections
    • It's a family tradition.
    • She has become interested in her family history.
    • He has a family history of heart disease.
    Extra Examples
    • Do you know anything about her family background?
    • The job wouldn't really fit in with my family commitments.
    • In 1941 he carried on the family tradition and enlisted in the army.
    • They prefer to stay in their home country because of family ties.
    • a family history of heart disease
  2.  
     owned by a family
    • They had to sell the family home.
    • a family business
    • the family car
    • She had to sell the family jewels in order to pay off her gambling debts.
  3.  
     suitable for all members of a family, both adults and children
    • a family show
    • family entertainment
    4. Word Originlate Middle English (in sense (3); also denoting the servants of a household or the retinue of a nobleman): from Latin familia ‘household servants, family’, from famulus ‘servant’.
See family in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee family in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: family

Nearby words

trait
noun
 
 
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