family English · revision 1802

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1400|origins=la famulus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfæm.əl.i/, /ˈfæm.ɪ.li/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|familie]], [[bor|la|familia|t=the servants of a household; the household]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) a noun formed from [[m|la|famulus|t=servant, slave]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995) from Old Latin [[m|la|famul]].^(Klein 1966) Barnhart compares [[osc|famel|t=servant]] and [[grc|θαμέες|tr=thamées|t=crowded]], and derives them from [[ine-pro|*dhē-|t=to put, place]];^(Barnhart 1988) Klein suggests ''famulus'' may mean “belonging to the house”, from a base meaning “house” as in [[sa|धामन्|tr=dhā́man|t=seat, dwelling place]],^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) while Etymonline calls it of unknown origin.^(Etymonline) Latin ''familia'' rarely meant “parents with their children”, for which [[m|la|domus]] was used.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The servants of a house; the household (in the late 14th or early 15th century).^(OED 1989)^(HTOED)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ According to the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins a person's family was at first their servants, then everyone living in one house, parents, children and servants, before the modern meaning settled in the later 15th century.^(Cresswell 2021) The sense “those descended from a common ancestor, a lineage” is recorded from 1474, and “parents and their children” from 1484 in the Historical Thesaurus,^(HTOED) though Etymonline dates the latter to the 1660s.^(Etymonline) Trench, writing in 1859, regretted that the word had ceased to include the servants, quoting Jeremy Taylor's advice to extend the same care “to all of our family … as to our children”.^(Trench 1859) The sense “a group of related things” dates from 1598,^(HTOED) and the biological rank between genus and order from 1753.^(Etymonline) Languages have been grouped in families since 1762.^(HTOED) In 18th-century cant ''the family'' meant the community of thieves;^(GDoS)^(HTOED) the US sense “a unit of the Mafia” was popularized by the film ''The Godfather'' (1972).^(Cresswell 2021) ''In the family way'', “pregnant”, earlier meant “in a domestic setting, informally”.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Weekley 1921) In South African English ''family'' without an article, meaning one's kinsfolk, is a [[calque]] of Afrikaans [[m|af|familie]].^(DSAE)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1388 – the servants of a household.^(HTOED)

+ * c. 1425 – ''familye'', household.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1452 – a household of parents, children and servants.^(HTOED)

+ * 1474 – a lineage.^(HTOED)

+ * 1484 – parents and their children.^(HTOED)

+ * 1598 – a group of related things.^(HTOED)

+ * 1602 – as an adjective.^(MW Collegiate)^(HTOED)

+ * 1725 – ''the family'', thieves (cant).^(GDoS)

+ * 1753 – a biological rank between genus and order.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1762 – a group of related languages.^(HTOED)

+ * 1807 – ''family tree''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1930 – ''family planning''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of parents and their children living together as a unit.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A group of people related by [[blood]] or [[marriage]]; one's relatives.^(COED 2004)^(Black's Law 2004)

+ # The children of a person or couple: ''we want a large family''.^(COED 2004)^(RHWU)

+ # All the descendants of a common ancestor; a [[lineage]], especially a distinguished one.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Chambers 2008)

+ # All the members of a [[household]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A group of related things: ''a family of fonts''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(biology)'' A [[taxonomic]] rank above [[genus]] and below [[order]].^(COED 2004)^(Stedman's)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' The languages descended from a common ancestor.^(COED 2004)^(Abracadabra 2004)

+ # A local unit of an organized crime group such as the [[Mafia]].^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or relating to a family: ''a family farm''.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Suitable for both children and adults: ''family movies''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[familyhood]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[familial]]

+ * [[familiar]]

+ * [[familiarity]]

+ * [[famulus]]

+ * [[domestic]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House treats ''family'' as a [[collective noun]],^(RHWU) and the Concise Oxford notes that it may take a singular or a plural verb.^(COED 2004) Black's Law Dictionary defines a family as persons connected by blood, affinity or law, or as a group living together with a shared commitment to a domestic relationship.^(Black's Law 2004)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}