1fam·i·ly 
/ˈfæmli/ noun
plural fam·i·lies /ˈfæmli/ noun 1 a : a group of people who are related to each other ◊This sense of family can refer to a group that consists of parents and their children or it can refer to a bigger group of related people including grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. It is often used specifically of a group of related people who live together in one house. [count] ▪ There were a lot of families at the circus. ▪ a close/close-knit family ▪ The show is fun for the whole/entire family. ▪ the royal family ▪ a single-parent family ▪ a death in the family ▪ There are several doctors on his mother's side of the family. ▪ She wants to spend more time with her family. ▪ my sister and other members of my immediate family [=the group that includes my parents, my brothers and sisters, and me] ▪ After his father's death he became the head of the family. ▪ She's a friend of the family. ▪ a two-family house/dwelling [=a house that has separate areas for two families to live in] [noncount] ▪ He spent a quiet evening at home with family. ▪ trying to find a balance between work and family ▪ She was surrounded by friends and family. [=family members] ▪ He has family in California. [=he has relatives who live in California] ◊To be treated like one of the family or like family is to be treated in a very warm and kind way, like a member of someone's family.
▪ They treat their guests like family. ◊You can informally describe someone as a member of your family by saying that he or she is family.
▪ You're always welcome here because you're family. ▪ My brother has a lot of faults, but we forgive him because he's family. ◊If something runs in the family or runs in someone's family, it occurs in all or many members of a family.
▪ Musical talent runs in her family. [=many or all of the people in her family have musical talent] — see also extended family, nuclear family
b [count] : a person's children
▪ He's devoted to his wife and family. ▪ My sister and her husband want to have a big/large family. [=to have many children] ▪ They want to raise a family. [=to have children] ▪ They want to start a family [=to begin having children] soon.
c [count] : a group of related people including people who lived in the past
▪ My family came to America from Italy. ▪ Their family has lived here for many generations. 2 [count] : a group of people who resemble a family in some way
▪ We like to think that the people who work here are all one big, happy family. 3 [count] : a group of things that are alike in some way
▪ a family of languages/instruments 4 [count] : a group of related plants or animals
▪ Peaches, apples, and roses belong to one family. ▪ a plant that belongs to the cabbage family ▪ Despite their large size, crows are members of the songbird family. 5 [count] : a group of criminals who work together in an organized way
▪ the suspected head of a crime family
▪ They treat their guests like family. ◊You can informally describe someone as a member of your family by saying that he or she is family.
▪ You're always welcome here because you're family. ▪ My brother has a lot of faults, but we forgive him because he's family. ◊If something runs in the family or runs in someone's family, it occurs in all or many members of a family.
▪ Musical talent runs in her family. [=many or all of the people in her family have musical talent] — see also extended family, nuclear family
b [count] : a person's children
▪ He's devoted to his wife and family. ▪ My sister and her husband want to have a big/large family. [=to have many children] ▪ They want to raise a family. [=to have children] ▪ They want to start a family [=to begin having children] soon.
c [count] : a group of related people including people who lived in the past
▪ My family came to America from Italy. ▪ Their family has lived here for many generations.
usage In U.S. English, family is used with a singular verb.
▪ His family has always supported him. In British English, family can also be used with a plural verb. ▪ His family have always supported him.
▪ His family has always supported him. In British English, family can also be used with a plural verb. ▪ His family have always supported him.
▪ We like to think that the people who work here are all one big, happy family.
▪ a family of languages/instruments
▪ Peaches, apples, and roses belong to one family. ▪ a plant that belongs to the cabbage family ▪ Despite their large size, crows are members of the songbird family.
▪ the suspected head of a crime family
