family

family
fam‧i‧ly S1 W1 /ˈfæməli/ noun (plural families)
1.  CLOSELY RELATED GROUP  [countable] a group of people who are related to each other, especially a mother, a father, and their children:
    Do you know the family next door?
    The Webb family still has its farm over there.
   [also + plural verb] British English:
    The family now live in London.
    This house isn’t big enough for a family of seven.
2.  ALL YOUR RELATIONS  [C,U also + plural verb BrE] all the people you are related to, including those who are now dead:
    I’m moving to Detroit because I have some family there.
    My family come from Scotland originally.
    in sb’s family
    That painting has been in our family (=been owned by our family) for 200 years.
    Asthma runs in the family (=is common in the family).
3.  CHILDREN  [countable] children:
    Couples with young families wouldn’t want to live here.
    They’re getting married next year, and hope to start a family (=have children) straight away.
    bring up/raise a family
    the problems of bringing up a family on a very low income
4. family size/pack etc a container or package containing a large amount of a product
5.  GROUP OF ANIMALS/THINGS  [countable] technical a group of related animals, plants, languages etc
    the cat/parrot/squirrel etc family
    The cat family includes lions and tigers.
    Spanish and Italian are part of the Romance language family.
6. she’s/he’s family informal used to emphasize your connection with someone who is related to you
7. in the family way old-fashioned pregnant
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meanings 1 & 2)

■ adjectives
   ▪ the whole family We invited the whole family round.
   ▪ all the family This is a game which all the family can enjoy.
   ▪ somebody's immediate family (=closest relations) What if one of your immediate family were disabled?
   ▪ somebody's extended family (=including not only parents and children, but also grandparents, aunts etc) She gets a lot of help from her extended family.
   ▪ a large/small family She came from a large family of seven children.
   ▪ a one-parent/single-parent family One in seven families is a one-parent family.
   ▪ the nuclear family (=a family consisting of a mother, a father, and their children) Not everyone lives in a typical nuclear family.
   ▪ close/close-knit family (=spending a lot of time together and supporting each other) Laura's family are very close.
   ▪ the Royal family (=the king or queen and their family) The Royal Family have large estates in Scotland.
   ▪ the Smith/Jones/Brown etc family The Smith family are living in temporary accommodation.
■ family + NOUN
   ▪ a family member/a member of the family The event was attended by many of his family members, including his children and grandchildren.
   ▪ somebody's family background He comes from a stable family background.
   ▪ a family history Is there a family history of heart disease?
   ▪ family life Some people believe that television is destroying family life.
   ▪ a family unit the breakup of the traditional family unit
   ▪ somebody's family home (=where someone's family live and where they lived as a child) Her family home is in a village outside Derry.
   ▪ a family business (=one run by members of a family) My parents expected me to join the family business.
   ▪ a family car (=one designed for families with children) It's a practical family car that is also fun to drive.
   ▪ a family holiday British English, a family vacation AmE: Most of our family holidays were spent in the south of France.
   ▪ a family resemblance (=when members of the same family look like each other) There's a strong family resemblance between all the sisters.
■ COMMON ERRORS
    ► Do not say 'my family is five', 'my family is five members/people', or 'my family is of five members/people'. Say there are five people in my family.