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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

familiar.

Known to one, or generally known; commonplace.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/fəˈmɪl.i.ə/Received-Pronunciation/fəˈmɪl.jəɹ/General-American/fəˈmɪl.i.əɹ/General-American/fəɹˈmɪl.jəɹ/General-American, nonstandard
  1. Known to one, or generally known; commonplace.

    There’s a familiar face; that tune sounds familiar.
  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!
  4. Of or pertaining to a family; familial.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English familiar, familier, from Latin familiāris (“pertaining to servants; pertaining to the household”). By surface analysis, family + -ar. Piecewise doublet of familial. Displaced native Old English hīwcūþ.

noun/fəˈmɪl.i.ə/Received-Pronunciation/fəˈmɪl.jəɹ/General-American/fəˈmɪl.i.əɹ/General-American/fəɹˈmɪl.jəɹ/General-American, nonstandard
  1. An attendant spirit, often in animal or demon form.

    The witch’s familiar was a black cat.
  2. A member of one's family or household.

    obsolete
  3. A member of a pope's or bishop's household.

  4. A close friend.

    obsolete
  5. The officer of the Inquisition who arrested suspected people.

    historical
Where this word comes from

From Middle English familiar, familier, from Latin familiāris (“pertaining to servants; pertaining to the household”). By surface analysis, family + -ar. Piecewise doublet of familial. Displaced native Old English hīwcūþ.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.