1. Primary social group; parents and children
   "he wanted to have a good job before starting a family";
   - family unit
    
2. A social unit living together
   "he moved his family to Virginia"; "the family refused to accept his will";
   - household, house, home, ménage
    
3. A collection of things sharing a common attribute
   "there are two families of detergents";
   - class, category
    
4. People descended from a common ancestor; blood relations
   "his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower"; "The family reunion brought together kinfolk from across the country"; "The folk gathered for their annual family reunion"; "The phratry gathered annually for their family reunion";
   - family line, folk, kinfolk, kinsfolk, phratry, fam [informal], kith and kin
    
5. A person having kinship with another or others
   "he's family"; "She invited all her kinspersons to the family reunion";
   - kin, kinsperson
    
6. (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera
   "sharks belong to the fish family"
    
7. An association of people who share common beliefs or activities
   "the message was addressed not just to employees but to every member of the company family";
   - fellowship
    
8. A loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities
   "The crime family controlled illegal gambling operations across the state";
   - syndicate, crime syndicate, mob

Derived forms: families

Type of: accumulation, aggregation, ancestry, assemblage, association, blood, blood line, bloodline, clan, collection, descent, flesh and blood, gangdom, gangland, kin, kin group, kindred, kinship group, line, line of descent, lineage, organised crime [Brit], organized crime, origin, parentage, pedigree, relation, relative, social unit, stemma, stock, taxon, taxonomic category, taxonomic group, tribe, unit

Part of: order

Encyclopedia: Family, Trip