family, noun

Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Calque formed on Afrikaans familie kin.
noncount
Used without an article or a pronoun: kinsfolk; blood relatives beyond the nuclear family. Also attributive, and figurative.
Note:
‘Married-on family’ (quotation 1990) is calqued on Afrikaans aangetroude familie (‘in-laws’).
1970 Post 15 Mar. 7Now Britain and Rhodesia aren’t even ‘family’ since the republic was declared, the chances are they never again will be.
1975 Z. Roos in Darling 1 Oct.Make sure your..wine comes from some..noble estate — preferably one run by your uncle. If you haven’t got family in the trade try [brand X] or [Y].
1975 Friend 2 Apr. 1A 15-year-old White Bloemfontein schoolgirl was attacked..at the weekend while on her way to visit family in West End.
1978 A. Elliott Sons of Zulu 70All the little girls act as nursemaids and help any mother, whether family or not, who has her hands full.
1984 Sunday Times 4 Mar. 5She was visiting family in England.
1986 T. Lurie in Eng. Alive 52Family had whispered of a nervous disease and cowardly shrunk from facing any responsibility or attachment.
1988 You 21 Jan. 102South Africans are known for their aversion to staying in hotels — especially when they have family they can land themselves on.
1989 K. Sutton in E. Prov. Herald 25 Feb. 4We will not have foreigners criticising our Afrikaners — that’s our job, we ‘English’..they’re family.
1990 M. Boddy-Evans Informant, London, United KingdomIn March we spent a night on a married-on family farm in the Karoo.
1994 Weekend Post 22 Oct. 4Nonki J—..was with family who were visiting friends in First Avenue.
kinsfolk; blood relatives beyond the nuclear family. Also attributive, and figurative.
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figurative or allusive
fall, verb intransitivev.Family Day, noun phrasen. phr.
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