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Added 9 October 2026

familial

/fəˈmɪljəl/ adjective

Latin root: familia Wiktionary

adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about familial at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Relating to or having the characteristics of a family.
children of the same familial background
Occurring among members of a family usually by heredity.
an inherited disease

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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