fam‧i‧ly S1 W1 / fæm ə li / 名词 ( 复数形式 families )
1 closely related group [可数名词] a group of people who are related to each other, especially a mother, a father, and their children :
Do you know the family next door?
The Webb family still has its farm over there.
[ also + 复数形式 动词 ] British English :
The family now live in London.
This house isn’t big enough for a family of seven.
2 all your relations [ C,U also + 复数形式 动词 BrE ] all the people you are related to, including those who are now dead :
I’m moving to Detroit because I have some family there.
My family come from Scotland originally.
in sb’s family
That painting has been in our family (= been owned by our family ) for 200 years.
Asthma runs in the family (= is common in the family ) .
3 children [可数名词] children :
Couples with young families wouldn’t want to live here.
They’re getting married next year, and hope to start a family (= have children ) straight away.
bring up/raise a family
the problems of bringing up a family on a very low income
4 family size/pack etc a container or package containing a large amount of a product
5 group of animals/things [可数名词] technical a group of related animals, plants, languages etc
the cat/parrot/squirrel etc family
The cat family includes lions and tigers.
Spanish and Italian are part of the Romance language family.
6 she’s/he’s family informal used to emphasize your connection with someone who is related to you
7 in the family way old-fashioned pregnant
COLLOCATIONS
形容词
the whole family We invited the whole family round.
all the family This is a game which all the family can enjoy.
somebody’s immediate family (= closest relations ) What if one of your immediate family were disabled?
somebody’s extended family (= including not only parents and children, but also grandparents, aunts etc ) She gets a lot of help from her extended family.
a large/small family She came from a large family of seven children.
a one-parent/single-parent family One in seven families is a one-parent family.
the nuclear family (= a family consisting of a mother, a father, and their children ) Not everyone lives in a typical nuclear family.
close/close-knit family (= spending a lot of time together and supporting each other ) Laura’s family are very close.
the Royal family (= the king or queen and their family ) The Royal Family have large estates in Scotland.
the Smith/Jones/Brown etc family The Smith family are living in temporary accommodation.
family + NOUN
a family member/a member of the family The event was attended by many of his family members, including his children and grandchildren.
somebody’s family background He comes from a stable family background.
a family history Is there a family history of heart disease?
family life Some people believe that television is destroying family life.
a family unit the breakup of the traditional family unit
somebody’s family home (= where someone’s family live and where they lived as a child ) Her family home is in a village outside Derry.
a family business (= one run by members of a family ) My parents expected me to join the family business.
a family car (= one designed for families with children ) It’s a practical family car that is also fun to drive.
a family holiday British English , a family vacation AmE: Most of our family holidays were spent in the south of France.
a family resemblance (= when members of the same family look like each other ) There’s a strong family resemblance between all the sisters.
COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say ‘my family is five’ , ‘my family is five members/people’ , or ‘my family is of five members/people’ . Say there are five people in my family .