family

n. group of persons who are related by blood; group of things which are related; plants or animals of the same genera

adj. of a family, of a group of relatives

Family is a Western term used to have denote a domestic group of people, or a number of domestic groups linked through descent (demonstrated or stipulated) from a common ancestor, marriage or adoption.A family may be defined specifically as a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, and co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by blood, many anthropologists argue that the notion of "blood" must be understood metaphorically; some argue that there are many non-Western societies where family is understood through other concepts rather than "blood"
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-- see patent family

Context: Patent

To dream of one's family as harmonious and happy, is significant of health and easy circumstances; but if there is sickness or contentions, it forebodes gloom and disappointment.
  

Noun
1. 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"
(synonym) household, house, home, menage
(hypernym) unit, social unit
(hyponym) nuclear family, conjugal family
2. primary social group; parents and children; "he wanted to have a good job before starting a family"
(synonym) family unit
(hypernym) kin, kin group, kinship group, kindred, clan, tribe
(hyponym) couple, mates, match
(member-meronym) child, kid
3. people descended from a common ancestor; "his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower"
(synonym) family line, folk, kinfolk, kinsfolk, sept, phratry
(hypernym) lineage, line, line of descent, descent, bloodline, blood line, blood, pedigree, ancestry, origin, parentage, stemma, stock
(hyponym) people
4. a collection of things sharing a common attribute; "there are two classes of detergents"
(synonym) class, category
(hypernym) collection, aggregation, accumulation, assemblage
(hyponym) Larvacea, class Larvacea
(member-meronym) superphylum
5. 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"
(synonym) fellowship
(hypernym) association
(hyponym) koinonia
6. (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera; "sharks belong to the fish family"
(hypernym) taxonomic group, taxonomic category, taxon
(hyponym) Filoviridae
(member-holonym) order
(member-meronym) Bunyaviridae
(classification) biology, biological science
7. a person having kinship with another or others; "he's kin"; "he's family"
(synonym) kin, kinsperson
(hypernym) relative, relation
(hyponym) affine
8. a loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities
(synonym) syndicate, crime syndicate, mob
(hypernym) organized crime, gangland, gangdom
(hyponym) Mafia, Maffia, Cosa Nostra