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VOCABULARY LISTS > JUST FOR FUN

It's All in the Family 10 words

February 1, 2012 By Vocabulary.com Vocabulary.com Moderator
Learn these words that refer to the roles and relationships within a family.

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Definitions Notes & Examples Words Only
  1. kin
    a person having kinship with another or others
    The soldier was not identified, pending notification of next of kin.
    —New York Times (Sep 29, 2011)
  2. sibling
    a person's brother or sister
    He began looking after his younger siblings at the age of four while his mother worked multiple jobs to make ends meet.
    —Washington Post (Jan 18, 2012)
  3. ancestor
    someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
    His father was the surviving representative of an honored line of English ancestors.
    —Various
  4. matriarch
    a female head of a family or tribe
    The younger elephants are presumably taking cues from the matriarch, Dr. McComb said.
    —New York Times (Mar 16, 2011)
  5. patriarch
    the male head of family or tribe
    He was widely regarded as a lovable patriarch, for instance, at a time when he had left his large family behind.
    —New York Times (Nov 2, 2011)
  6. familial
    relating to or having the characteristics of a family
    But as its title implies, “Sons” has inescapable familial dimensions.
    —New York Times (Oct 8, 2011)
  7. filial
    designating the generation or the sequence of generations following the parental generation
    No virtue in Korea is esteemed more than filial devotion.
    —Vay, P?ter
  8. genealogy
    the study or investigation of ancestry and family history
    Most Somalis can recite their genealogy going back several generations.
    —Reuters (Dec 8, 2011)
  9. spouse
    a person's partner in marriage
    Japanese working mums do four hours of child care and housework each day—eight times as much as their spouses.
    —Economist (Nov 2, 2011)
  10. maternal
    characteristic of a mother
    Maternal mortality rates are also high, with 85 women dying in childbirth for every 100,000 live births, Tidey said.
    —Reuters (Nov 1, 2011)