Definition of family

"family" in the noun sense

1. family, household, house, home, menage

a social unit living together

"he moved his family to Virginia"

"It was a good Christian household"

"I waited until the whole house was asleep"

"the teacher asked how many people made up his home"

"the family refused to accept his will"

2. family, family unit

primary social group parents and children

"he wanted to have a good job before starting a family"

3. class, category, family

a collection of things sharing a common attribute

"there are two classes of detergents"

4. family, family line, folk, kinfolk, kinsfolk, sept, phratry

people descended from a common ancestor

"his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower"

5. kin, kinsperson, family

a person having kinship with another or others

"he's kin"

"he's family"

6. family

biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera

"sharks belong to the fish family"

7. syndicate, crime syndicate, mob, family

a loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities

8. family, fellowship

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"

"the church welcomed new members into its fellowship"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.


View WordNet® License

Quotations for family

A small family is soon provided for. [ Proverb ]

Family likeness has often a deep sadness in it. [ George Eliot ]

Family pride entertains many unsocial opinions. [ Zimmermann ]

If I have enough for myself and family,
I am steward only for myself; if I have more,
I am but a steward of that abundance for others. [ George Herbert ]

Dead men are of no family, and are akin to none. [ Proverb ]

We must strive to make of humanity one single family. [ Mazzini ]

It costs more to satisfy a vice than to feed a family. [ Balzac ]

The family of the public-spirited men is always extinct. [ Proverb ]

They wish to know of the family secrets, and so to be feared. [ Juv ]

When God is made the master of a family, He orders the disorderly. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

They appear to me of a noble family; they look proud and contented. [ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Frosch in the witches' cellar in "Faust." ]

Pride, in boasting of family antiquity, makes duration stand for merit. [ Zimmermann ]

A debauched son of a noble family, is a foul stream from a clear spring. [ Proverb ]

A man cannot leave a better legacy to the world than a well-educated family. [ Rev. Thomas Scott ]

No woman is educated who is not equal to the successful management of a family. [ Burnap ]

Generosity, wrong placed, becometh a vice; a princely mind will undo a private family. [ Fuller ]

It's sad that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as a pack of wild dogs. [ Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts ]

Fathers should be neither seen nor heard. That is the only proper basis for family life. [ Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband ]

He that has no fools, knaves, nor beggars in his family was begot by a flash of lightning. [ Proverb ]

But all his family and the entire neighbourhood regard him as inwardly base, and only showy outside. [ Horace ]

Mere family never made a man great. Thought and deed, not pedigree, are the passports to enduring fame. [ Skobeleff ]

He that boasts of his ancestors, the founders and raisers of a family, doth confess that he hath less virtue. [ Jeremy Taylor ]

Nothing affords greater pleasure to the members of the family than the cultivation and daily sight of flowers. [ D. D. T. Moore ]

I make little account of genealogical trees. Mere family never made a man great. Thought and deed, not pedigree, are the passports to enduring fate. [ General Skobeleff ]

It is a revered thing to see an ancient castle not in decay; how much more to behold an ancient family which have stood against the waves and weathers of time! [ Bacon ]

Let every man, if possible, gather some good books under his roof, and obtain access for himself and family to some social library. Almost any luxury should be sacrificed to this. [ William Ellery Channing ]

It is with nations as with individuals, those who know the least of others think the highest of themselves; for the whole family of pride and ignorance are incestuous, and mutually beget each other. [ Colton ]

A friend to everybody is often a friend to nobody, or else in his simplicity he robs his family to help strangers, and becomes brother to a beggar. There is wisdom in generosity, as in everything else. [ Spurgeon ]

Let every mother consider herself as an instrument in the hands of Providence - let her reflect on the immense importance the proper education of one single family may eventually prove; and that, while the fruit of her labors may descend to generations yet unborn, she will herself reap a glorious reward. [ Miss Hamilton ]

To be honest, to be kind, to earn a little, and to spend a little less, to make upon the whole a family happier for his presence, to renounce when that shall be necessary and not to be embittered, to keep a few friends, but these without capitulation; above all, on the same condition, to keep friends with himself: here is a task for all a man has of fortitude and delicacy. [ Robert Louis Stevenson ]

The loss of a mother is always severely felt; even though Her health may incapacitate her from taking any active part in the care of her family, still she is a sweet rallying-point, around which affection and obedience, and a thousand tender endeavors to please concentrate; and dreary is the blank when such a point is withdrawn! It is like that lonely star before us; neither its heat nor light are anything to us in themselves; yet the shepherd would feel his heart sad if he missed it, when he lifts his eye to the brow of the mountain over which it rises when the sun descends. [ Lamartine ]

The Christian cemetery is a memorial and a record. It is not a mere field in which the dead are stowed away unknown; it is a touching and beautiful history, written in family burial plots, in mounded graves, in sculptured and inscribed monuments. It tells the story of the past, - not of its institutions, or its wars, or its ideas, but of its individual lives, - of its men and women and children, and of its household. It is silent, but eloquent; it is common, but it is unique. We find no such history elsewhere; there are no records in all the wide world in which we can discover so much that is suggestive, so much that is pathetic and impressive. [ Joseph Anderson ]

Since I was seven years old I have seldom take, a dose of medicine, and have still seldomer needed one. But up to seven I lived exclusively on allopathic medicines. Not that I needed them, for I don't think I did; it was for economy; my father took a drug-store for a debt, and it made cod-liver oil cheaper than the other breakfast foods. We had nine barrels of it, and it lasted me seven years. Then I was weaned. The rest of the family had to get along with rhubarb and ipecac and such things, because I was the pet. I was the first Standard Oil Trust. I had it all. By the time the drugstore was exhausted my health was established, and there has never been much the matter with me since. [ Mark Twain, Seventieth Birthday speech ]

family in Scrabble®

The word family is playable in Scrabble®, no blanks required.

Scrabble® Letter Score: 14

Highest Scoring Scrabble® Plays In The Letters family:

FAMILY
(54)
FAMILY
(54)
 

All Scrabble® Plays For The Word family

FAMILY
(54)
FAMILY
(54)
FAMILY
(51)
FAMILY
(45)
FAMILY
(45)
FAMILY
(45)
FAMILY
(44)
FAMILY
(44)
FAMILY
(42)
FAMILY
(42)
FAMILY
(36)
FAMILY
(36)
FAMILY
(36)
FAMILY
(36)
FAMILY
(32)
FAMILY
(32)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(28)
FAMILY
(28)
FAMILY
(28)
FAMILY
(28)
FAMILY
(28)
FAMILY
(28)
FAMILY
(24)
FAMILY
(24)
FAMILY
(21)
FAMILY
(20)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(18)
FAMILY
(17)
FAMILY
(16)
FAMILY
(16)
FAMILY
(15)

The 200 Highest Scoring Scrabble® Plays For Words Using The Letters In family

FAMILY
(54)
FAMILY
(54)
FILMY
(51)
FAMILY
(51)
FILMY
(51)
FILMY
(48)
FAMILY
(45)
FAMILY
(45)
FAMILY
(45)
FAMILY
(44)
FAMILY
(44)
FAMILY
(42)
FILMY
(42)
FLAY
(42)
FILMY
(42)
FLAY
(42)
FILMY
(42)
FAMILY
(42)
FILM
(39)
FILMY
(39)
LIMY
(39)
FILMY
(39)
FILMY
(39)
FAMILY
(36)
FILM
(36)
FAMILY
(36)
FAMILY
(36)
FAMILY
(36)
FILMY
(34)
FILMY
(34)
FILMY
(34)
FILMY
(34)
FAIL
(33)
FAMILY
(32)
FAMILY
(32)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
AMYL
(30)
FLAY
(30)
AMYL
(30)
FLAY
(30)
FLAY
(30)
LIMY
(30)
FLAY
(30)
FILMY
(29)
FAMILY
(28)
FAMILY
(28)
FAMILY
(28)
FAMILY
(28)
FAMILY
(28)
FLAY
(28)
FAMILY
(28)
FLAY
(28)
FILM
(27)
AMYL
(27)
MAIL
(27)
LIMY
(27)
AMYL
(27)
LIMY
(27)
FLY
(27)
LIMY
(27)
LIMY
(27)
FLY
(27)
FILM
(27)
FILM
(27)
AMYL
(27)
FILM
(27)
FLY
(27)
AMYL
(27)
FILMY
(26)
FILM
(26)
FILMY
(26)
FILMY
(26)
FILMY
(26)
FILMY
(26)
LIMY
(26)
FAMILY
(24)
FILM
(24)
FAMILY
(24)
MAY
(24)
MAY
(24)
MAY
(24)
YAM
(24)
YAM
(24)
FAIL
(24)
YAM
(24)
FAIL
(22)
FAIL
(21)
MAIL
(21)
MY
(21)
FAIL
(21)
FILMY
(21)
FAIL
(21)
FAIL
(21)
MY
(21)
FAMILY
(21)
FLAY
(20)
LIMY
(20)
AMYL
(20)
FAMILY
(20)
FLAY
(20)
FLAY
(20)
FLAY
(20)
AMYL
(20)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FILMY
(19)
FLY
(18)
FLY
(18)
MAIL
(18)
FILM
(18)
MAIL
(18)
AMYL
(18)
AMYL
(18)
AMYL
(18)
FILM
(18)
FILMY
(18)
MAIL
(18)
MAIL
(18)
FLAY
(18)
FLAY
(18)
FAMILY
(18)
LIMY
(18)
LAY
(18)
FILMY
(18)
MAIL
(18)
FLY
(18)
LAY
(18)
LIMY
(18)
FILM
(18)
FILM
(18)
LIMY
(18)
AMYL
(18)
LAY
(18)
LIMY
(18)
LIMY
(17)
FILMY
(17)
FILM
(17)
AMYL
(17)
FLY
(17)
FLY
(17)
FAMILY
(17)
FLY
(17)
MAY
(16)
MAY
(16)
MAY
(16)
FILMY
(16)
YAM
(16)
YAM
(16)
MAY
(16)
FAMILY
(16)
FAMILY
(16)
FAIL
(16)
YAM
(16)
YAM
(16)
AIM
(15)
LAM
(15)
MAY
(15)
LAM
(15)
LIMY
(15)
YAM
(15)
IF
(15)
FILMY
(15)
AIM
(15)
IF
(15)
FLAY
(15)
AIM
(15)
FLAY
(15)
FA
(15)
FILMY
(15)
LAM
(15)
YA
(15)
AY
(15)
AY
(15)
FAMILY
(15)
AMYL
(15)
FILM
(15)
MIL
(15)
FA
(15)
MIL
(15)
MY
(15)
FAIL
(15)
MIL
(15)
YA
(15)
MAY
(14)
FLAY
(14)
LAY
(14)
MY
(14)
FILMY
(14)
YAM
(14)
MAIL
(14)
FAIL
(14)
AMYL
(14)
FLAY
(14)
FAIL
(14)
FILMY
(14)
FAIL
(14)
FILM
(14)
LIMY
(14)

family in Words With Friends™

The word family is playable in Words With Friends™, no blanks required.

Words With Friends™ Letter Score: 15

Highest Scoring Words With Friends™ Play In The Letters family:

FAMILY
(93)
 

All Words With Friends™ Plays For The Word family

FAMILY
(93)
FAMILY
(69)
FAMILY
(69)
FAMILY
(69)
FAMILY
(63)
FAMILY
(60)
FAMILY
(60)
FAMILY
(57)
FAMILY
(51)
FAMILY
(51)
FAMILY
(46)
FAMILY
(45)
FAMILY
(45)
FAMILY
(42)
FAMILY
(38)
FAMILY
(38)
FAMILY
(38)
FAMILY
(36)
FAMILY
(34)
FAMILY
(34)
FAMILY
(32)
FAMILY
(32)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(27)
FAMILY
(27)
FAMILY
(25)
FAMILY
(23)
FAMILY
(23)
FAMILY
(23)
FAMILY
(22)
FAMILY
(22)
FAMILY
(21)
FAMILY
(21)
FAMILY
(20)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(18)
FAMILY
(18)
FAMILY
(17)
FAMILY
(17)
FAMILY
(17)
FAMILY
(16)
FAMILY
(16)
FAMILY
(15)

The 200 Highest Scoring Words With Friends™ Plays Using The Letters In family

FAMILY
(93)
FAMILY
(69)
FAMILY
(69)
FAMILY
(69)
FILMY
(66)
FILMY
(66)
FAMILY
(63)
FILMY
(60)
FAMILY
(60)
FAMILY
(60)
FAMILY
(57)
FILM
(57)
FILM
(57)
FILMY
(56)
FLAY
(54)
FAMILY
(51)
FAMILY
(51)
FLAY
(48)
FILMY
(48)
FAIL
(48)
MAIL
(48)
LIMY
(48)
FAMILY
(46)
FAMILY
(45)
FAMILY
(45)
FILMY
(44)
FILMY
(42)
AMYL
(42)
FILMY
(42)
FAMILY
(42)
FILMY
(42)
LIMY
(42)
FILMY
(40)
FAMILY
(38)
FAMILY
(38)
FAMILY
(38)
AMYL
(36)
FAMILY
(36)
FILMY
(36)
MAIL
(36)
FAIL
(36)
FILMY
(36)
FAMILY
(34)
FAMILY
(34)
FILMY
(34)
FILM
(33)
FILM
(33)
FILM
(33)
FILM
(33)
FAMILY
(32)
FAMILY
(32)
FAMILY
(30)
LIMY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
AMYL
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
FAMILY
(30)
FILM
(30)
LIMY
(30)
AMYL
(30)
FILM
(30)
FILMY
(30)
LIMY
(30)
FLAY
(30)
FLAY
(30)
FLAY
(30)
FLAY
(30)
LIMY
(30)
AMYL
(30)
AMYL
(30)
FILMY
(28)
FLAY
(28)
FILMY
(28)
FILMY
(28)
FILMY
(28)
FILMY
(28)
FILMY
(28)
FLY
(27)
FAMILY
(27)
FLY
(27)
FLY
(27)
FAMILY
(27)
FILMY
(26)
FLAY
(26)
LIMY
(26)
FILMY
(25)
FAMILY
(25)
MAIL
(24)
YAM
(24)
FAIL
(24)
LIMY
(24)
MAY
(24)
YAM
(24)
FILMY
(24)
FAIL
(24)
MAY
(24)
MAIL
(24)
FILMY
(24)
MAIL
(24)
MAIL
(24)
FILMY
(24)
MAIL
(24)
MAY
(24)
YAM
(24)
FAIL
(24)
FAIL
(24)
FAIL
(24)
AMYL
(24)
FAMILY
(23)
FILM
(23)
FAMILY
(23)
FLY
(23)
FAMILY
(23)
FILMY
(22)
FAMILY
(22)
FILMY
(22)
FAMILY
(22)
AMYL
(22)
FILM
(22)
FILM
(22)
AMYL
(22)
MAY
(22)
YAM
(22)
LIMY
(22)
FILM
(22)
FILM
(22)
MIL
(21)
FILM
(21)
FAMILY
(21)
MY
(21)
LAM
(21)
FILMY
(21)
LAM
(21)
FAMILY
(21)
MIL
(21)
MIL
(21)
LAM
(21)
MY
(21)
FILMY
(20)
LIMY
(20)
MAIL
(20)
FAMILY
(20)
FAIL
(20)
LIMY
(20)
FLAY
(20)
FLAY
(20)
AMYL
(20)
AMYL
(20)
FLAY
(20)
AMYL
(20)
LIMY
(20)
FLAY
(20)
FLAY
(20)
AMYL
(20)
FLAY
(20)
LIMY
(20)
FILM
(19)
FILM
(19)
FILM
(19)
FILMY
(19)
FILMY
(19)
LAM
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
MIL
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(19)
FAMILY
(18)
AMYL
(18)
MAIL
(18)
FLY
(18)
FILMY
(18)
FAIL
(18)
LIMY
(18)
FILMY
(18)
FLY
(18)
AIM
(18)
LIMY
(18)
FLAY
(18)
FILMY
(18)
AIM
(18)
LAY
(18)
FLY
(18)
LAY
(18)
AMYL
(18)
LAY
(18)
FAMILY
(18)
FILMY
(18)
AIM
(18)
FILMY
(17)
FLY
(17)
FILM
(17)
FAMILY
(17)
FLAY
(17)
FAMILY
(17)
FAMILY
(17)
MAIL
(16)

Words within the letters of family

2 letter words in family (10 words)

3 letter words in family (8 words)

4 letter words in family (6 words)

5 letter words in family (1 word)

6 letter words in family (1 word)

family + 1 blank (2 words)

family + 2 blanks (2 words)

Words containing the sequence family

Words that start with family (3 words)

Words with family in them (1 word)

Word Growth involving family

Shorter words in family

am

fa

mi mil

Longer words containing family

familytree familytrees

interfamily

multifamily

nonfamily

profamily

stepfamily

subfamily

superfamily