Standard Lemma guide

familial

adj · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /fəˈmɪljəl/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F AH0 M IH1 L Y AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or pertaining to a human family.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • Mark had to leave work due to familial obligations.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Pertaining to a taxon at the rank of family.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: biology, natural-sciences, taxonomy

Examples

  • Having milky latex is a familial characteristic of Apocynaceae.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Of or pertaining to any grouping of things referred to as a family.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • "Grandfather", "mother", and "brother" are some English familial terms.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Inherited.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

Examples

  • fatal familial insomnia

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

relating to or having the characteristics of a family

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • children of the same familial background
  • familial aggregation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

occurring among members of a family usually by heredity

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an inherited disease
  • familial traits
  • genetically transmitted features

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: genetic, hereditary, inherited, transmitted, transmissible

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From French familial (“relating to a family; familial”), from Latin familia (“family (in the sense of the slaves working for a household); household”) (from famulus (“servant; slave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dhh1-m-eló-, from *dheh1- (“to do, place, put”)) + French -al (adjective-forming suffix) (from Latin -ālis, from Proto-Indo-European *-li-). By surface analysis, family + -al. Piecewise doublet of familiar.

Across languages

Translations

48 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: أُسْرِيّ (ʔusriyy) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Arabic: عَائِلِيّ (ʕāʔiliyy) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Armenian: ընտանեկան (əntanekan) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Azerbaijani: ailəvi — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Belarusian: сяме́йны (sjamjéjny) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Belarusian: радзі́нны (radzínny) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Bengali: পারিবারিক (paribarik) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Bulgarian: семе́ен (seméen) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Catalan: familiar — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Chinese Mandarin: 家庭的 (jiātíng de) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Czech: rodinný — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Finnish: perhe- — of or pertaining to a human family
  • French: familial — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Galician: familiar — of or pertaining to a human family
  • German: Familien- — of or pertaining to a human family
  • German: familiär — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Greek: οικογενειακός (oikogeneiakós) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Ancient Greek: οἰκεῖος (oikeîos) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Hebrew: מִשְׁפַּחְתִּי (mishpakhtí) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Hindi: पारिवारिक (pārivārik) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Ido: familiala — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Irish: teaghlaigh — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Italian: familiare — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Japanese: 家族の (kazoku no) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Korean: 가족의 (gajog-ui) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Macedonian: се́меен (sémeen) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Macedonian: фамилија́рен (familijáren) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Marathi: कुटुंबीय (kuṭumbīy) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Marathi: कौटुंबिक (kauṭumbik) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Polish: rodzinny — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Portuguese: familiar — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Portuguese: familial — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Romanian: familial — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Russian: семе́йный (seméjnyj) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Russian: фами́льный (famílʹnyj) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Serbo-Croatian: оби́тељскӣ — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Serbo-Croatian: по̀родичнӣ — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Serbo-Croatian: obíteljskī — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Serbo-Croatian: pòrodičnī — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Slovak: rodinný — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Slovene: družinski — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Spanish: familiar — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Swahili: kifamilia — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Swedish: familje- — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Turkish: ailevî — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Ukrainian: роди́нний (rodýnnyj) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Ukrainian: сіме́йний (siméjnyj) — of or pertaining to a human family
  • Urdu: عائِلی ('āilī) — of or pertaining to a human family