familiar

From Latin familiāris (“pertaining to servants; pertaining to the household”). Doublet of familial. Displaced native Old English hīwcūþ.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /fəˈmɪl.i.ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /fəˈmɪl.jɚ/, /fəˈmɪl.i.ɚ/, /fɚˈmɪl.jɚ/

• Audio (US):

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familiar (comparative more familiar, superlative most familiar)

1. Known to one, or generally known; commonplace.

   There’s a familiar face; that tune sounds familiar.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249:

     The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.

   • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

2. Acquainted.

   I'm quite familiar with this system; she's not familiar with manual gears.

3. Intimate or friendly.

   We are on familiar terms now; our neighbour is not familiar

   Don’t be familiar with me, boy!

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 156, column 1:

     Be thou familiar; but by no meanes vulgar: […]

4. Of or pertaining to a family; familial.
   • 1822, Lord Byron, Werner

     familiar feuds

• (acquainted): acquainted
• (intimate, friendly): close, friendly, intimate, personal
• (inappropriately intimate or friendly): cheeky, fresh, impudent

• (antonym(s) of “known to one”): ignorant, unfamiliar, unknown
• (antonym(s) of “acquainted”): unacquainted
• (antonym(s) of “intimate”): cold, cool, distant, impersonal, standoffish, unfriendly

• familial

familiar (plural familiars)

1. (witchcraft) An attendant spirit, often in animal or demon form.

   The witch’s familiar was a black cat.

   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 75:

     The familiars of the magicians, on the other hand, were not in all cases evil, and often may have approximated the "guides" with whom present-day spiritualists are well acquainted.

   • 1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 8:

     "What power hath gold?" Catweazle wondered as he picked up his familiar and put him in his special pocket.

2. (obsolete) A member of one's family or household.
3. A member of a pope's or bishop's household.
4. (obsolete) A close friend.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Concerning the Patient”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 1, member 4, subsection 3, page 199:

     [A] friend of mine, that finding a Receipt in Braſsivola, would needs take Hellebor in ſubſtance, & try it on his own perſon; but had not ſome of his familiars come to viſite him by chance, he had by his indiſcretion hazarded himſelfe; many ſuch I have obſerued.

5. (historical) The officer of the Inquisition who arrested suspected people.

• nigget

• daimon (a tutelary spirit that guides a person)

• Familiar in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Borrowed from Latin familiāris.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [fə.mi.liˈar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [fə.mi.liˈa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [fa.mi.liˈaɾ]

familiar m or f (masculine and feminine plural familiars)

1. familiar
2. familial
3. family-friendly

   pel·lícules familiars

   family movies

• familiaritzar
• familiarment
• unifamiliar

• familiaritat

familiar m or f by sense (plural familiars)

1. relative

familiar m (plural familiars)

1. clipping of cotxe familiar

• família

• “familiar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “familiar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “familiar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “familiar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Latin familiāris.

familiar m or f (plural familiares)

1. of family
2. close, familiar
3. daily, plain

familiar m (plural familiares)

1. relative

• parente
• achegado

• familia
• familiaridade
• familiarizar

• “familiar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

familiar m

1. indefinite plural of familie

Borrowed from Latin familiāris.

familiar m or f (plural familiares)

1. familiar (known to one)
2. (relational) family

• familiarmente

• familiaridade
• familial

familiar m (plural familiares)

1. (usually in the plural) relative (person in the same family)
2. familiar (attendant spirit)

   Synonym: espírito familiar

• família

• “familiar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Borrowed from French familier, from Latin familiaris. By surface analysis, familie +‎ -ar.

familiar m or n (feminine singular familiară, masculine plural familiari, feminine and neuter plural familiare)

1. familiar

• familiaritate

From Latin familiāris.

• IPA^(key): /famiˈljaɾ/ [fa.miˈljaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: fa‧mi‧liar

familiar m or f (masculine and feminine plural familiares)

1. familial, family
2. close, familiar
3. daily, plain
4. family-friendly

familiar m (plural familiares)

1. relative, family member

   Synonyms: miembro de la familia, pariente

2. (automotive) station wagon; estate car

   Synonyms: (Colombia, Venezuela) camioneta, (Mexico) guayín, (Spain) ranchera, (chiefly Argentina) rural, (Chile, Peru, Puerto Rico) station wagon, (Bolivia, Mexico) vagoneta

• “familiar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024