Fam·i·ly n.; pl. Families
 1. The collective body of persons who live in one house, and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children, and servants, and, as the case may be, lodgers or boarders.
 2. The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society.
    The welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society.   --H. Spencer.
 3. Those who descend from one common progenitor; a tribe, clan, or race; kindred; house; as, the human family; the family of Abraham; the father of a family.
    Go ! and pretend your family is young.   --Pope.
 4. Course of descent; genealogy; line of ancestors; lineage.
 5. Honorable descent; noble or respectable stock; as, a man of family.
 6. A group of kindred or closely related individuals; as, a family of languages; a family of States; the chlorine family.
 7. Biol. A group of organisms, either animal or vegetable, related by certain points of resemblance in structure or development, more comprehensive than a genus, because it is usually based on fewer or less pronounced points of likeness. In Zoology a family is less comprehesive than an order; in botany it is often considered the same thing as an order.
 Family circle. See under Circle.
 Family man. (a) A man who has a family; esp., one who has a wife and children living with him and dependent upon him. (b) A man of domestic habits. “The Jews are generally, when married, most exemplary family men.” --Mayhew.
 Family of curves or Family of surfaces Geom., a group of curves or surfaces derived from a single equation.
 In a family way, like one belonging to the family. “Why don't we ask him and his ladies to come over in a family way, and dine with some other plain country gentlefolks?” --Thackeray.
 In the family way, pregnant. [Colloq. euphemism]
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