Word
familial
Phoneticsfa·mil·ial
US/fəˈmɪɫjəɫ/
UK/fæmˈɪlɪəl/
Definition
adj. relating to a family or typical of the relationships between family members.
adj. relating to or occurring within a family; often describes characteristics, traits, or conditions passed through generations.
Examples
“The house had a warm, familial atmosphere.”
“Doctors often ask about your familial medical history to identify potential genetic risks for certain diseases.”
“The novel explores the complex familial bonds that tie the siblings together despite their vastly different political ideologies and geographic distances.”
Examples
simple
“The house had a warm, familial atmosphere.”
contextual
“Doctors often ask about your familial medical history to identify potential genetic risks for certain diseases.”
complex
“The novel explores the complex familial bonds that tie the siblings together despite their vastly different political ideologies and geographic distances.”
Usage
Typically used attributively before a noun; frequently appears in medical or sociological contexts.
Pitfall
They have a familyal problem
They have a familial problem
Learners often misspell the word by trying to keep the full spelling of 'family' before adding the suffix.
Real-World Examples
“At the time, critics accused the Trump administration of targeting him based on his familial ties.” “Given this careful familial setup, it’s a bit bewildering when the film takes a sudden demonic swerve.” 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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/familial