familia
“familia” means “family” in Spanish. It has 2 different meanings depending on context:
family
Also: household
📝 In Action
Mi familia vive en Argentina.
A1My family lives in Argentina.
Tengo una familia muy grande.
A1I have a very big family.
La familia es lo más importante para mí.
A2Family is the most important thing to me.
family
Also: group, class
📝 In Action
El español pertenece a la familia de las lenguas romances.
B2Spanish belongs to the family of Romance languages.
Los leones y los tigres son de la misma familia.
B1Lions and tigers are from the same family.
Este software viene con una nueva familia de tipografías.
C1This software comes with a new family of fonts.
Translate to Spanish
✏️ Quick Practice
Quick Quiz: familia
Question 1 of 1
Which sentence uses 'familia' in a more figurative or scientific way?
📚 More Resources
👥 Word Family▼
🎵 Rhymes▼
📚 Etymology▼
Comes from the Latin word 'familia', which originally meant the group of servants and slaves in a household. Over time, its meaning shifted to include the blood relatives living under the same roof.
First recorded: 13th century
Cognates (Related words)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why is 'familia' feminine ('la familia') if it includes men?
In Spanish, the gender of a noun is a grammatical rule and doesn't always match the real-world gender of the thing it describes. The word 'familia' is grammatically feminine, so it always uses feminine words like 'la' and 'una', even when talking about a family of all men.
What's the difference between 'familia' and 'parientes'?
'Familia' usually refers to your closer family, the people you feel a strong bond with, often living in the same house. 'Parientes' is a broader term for all your relatives, including distant cousins or great-aunts you might not know very well.