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family

Definition of Family

(noun) A socially recognized group of two or more individuals joined by kinship (adoption, blood, fictive kin, or marriage).

Types of Family

Family Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: fam·i·ly

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /fAm-lee/
  • British English – /fAm-uh-lee/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈfæm(ə)li/
  • British English – /ˈfam(ᵻ)li/

Usage Notes

Related Quotations

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Additional Information

Related Terms


References

Ballantine, Jeanne H., Keith A. Roberts, and Kathleen Odell Korgen. 2018. Our Social World: Introduction to Sociology. 6th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Goldscheider, Frances, and Berna Torr. 2007. “Leaving Home in the Transition to Adulthood.” Pp. 2570-74 in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, edited by G. Ritzer. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Lindsey, Linda L. 2016. Gender Roles: A Sociological Perspective. 6th ed. New York: Routledge.

Stacey, Judith. 1990. Brave New Families: Stories of Domestic Upheaval in Late Twentieth Century America. New York: Basic Books.

Strong, Bryan, Christine DeVault, and Theodore F. Cohen. 2011. The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society. 11th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Works Consulted

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The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

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Bruce, Steve, and Steven Yearley. 2006. The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

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Ferrante, Joan. 2011a. Seeing Sociology: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferrante, Joan. 2011b. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.

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Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

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Cite the Definition of Family

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “family.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/family/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

family. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/family/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “family.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/family/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“family.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/family/>.