v. t. & i. [ F. affamer, fr. L. ad + fames hunger. See Famish. ] To afflict with, or perish from, hunger. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Starvation. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. diffamacioun, F. diffamation. See Defame. ] Act of injuring another's reputation by any slanderous communication, written or oral; the wrong of maliciously injuring the good name of another; slander; detraction; calumny; aspersion. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In modern usage, written defamation bears the title of libel, and oral defamation that of slander. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Containing defamation; injurious to reputation; calumnious; slanderous; as, defamatory words; defamatory writings. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Defamed p. pr. & vb. n. Defaming. ] [ OE. defamen, diffamen, from F. diffamer, or OF. perh. defamer, fr. L. diffamare (cf. defamatus infamous); dis- (in this word confused with de) + fama a report. See Fame. ] 1. To harm or destroy the good fame or reputation of; to disgrace; especially, to speak evil of maliciously; to dishonor by slanderous reports; to calumniate; to asperse. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To render infamous; to bring into disrepute. [ 1913 Webster ]

My guilt thy growing virtues did defame;
My blackness blotted thy unblemish'd name. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To charge; to accuse. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Rebecca is . . . defamed of sorcery practiced on the person of a noble knight. Sir W. Scott.

Syn. -- To asperse; slander; calumniate; vilify. See Asperse. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Dishonor. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who defames; a slanderer; a detractor; a calumniator. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a defamatory manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Defamatory. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Defame. ] Evil name; bad reputation; defamation. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Disrepute. [ R. ] Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To famish; to starve. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ OE. falmelen; cf. SW. famla to grope, Dan. famle to grope, falter, hesitate, Icel. fālma to grope. Cf. Famble. ] To stammer. [ Obs. ] Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Famble, v. ] A hand. [ Slang & Obs. ] “We clap our fambles.” Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. fame, L. fama, fr. fari to speak, akin to Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; a saying, report, fa`nai to speak. See Ban, and cf. Fable, Fate, Euphony, Blame. ] 1. Public report or rumor. [ 1913 Webster ]

The fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house. Gen. xlv. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Report or opinion generally diffused; renown; public estimation; celebrity, either favorable or unfavorable; as, the fame of Washington. [ 1913 Webster ]

I find thou art no less than fame hath bruited. Shak.

Syn. -- Notoriety; celebrity; renown; reputation. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Famed p. pr. & vb. n. Faming. ] 1. To report widely or honorably. [ 1913 Webster ]

The field where thou art famed
To have wrought such wonders. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make famous or renowned. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those Hesperian gardens famed of old. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Without fame or renown. -- Fame"less*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

adj. 1. relating to or having the characteristics of a family; as, children of the same familial background; familial aggregation. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. tending to occur among members of a family, usually by hereditary transmission; familial traits.
Syn. -- genetic, hereditary, inherited, transmitted, transmissible. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ OE. familer, familier, F. familier, fr. L. familiaris, fr. familia family. See Family. ] 1. Of or pertaining to a family; domestic. “Familiar feuds.” Byron.
Syn. -- familial. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Closely acquainted or intimate, as a friend or companion; well versed in, as any subject of study; as, familiar with the Scriptures. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Characterized by, or exhibiting, the manner of an intimate friend; not formal; unconstrained; easy; accessible. “In loose, familiar strains.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Well known; well understood; common; frequent; as, a familiar illustration. [ 1913 Webster ]

That war, or peace, or both at once, may be
As things acquainted and familiar to us. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is nothing more familiar than this. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Improperly acquainted; wrongly intimate. Camden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Familiar spirit, a demon or evil spirit supposed to attend at call. 1 Sam. xxviii. 3, 7-9. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. An intimate; a companion. [ 1913 Webster ]

All my familiars watched for my halting. Jer. xx. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An attendant demon or evil spirit. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Court of Inquisition) A confidential officer employed in the service of the tribunal, especially in apprehending and imprisoning the accused. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. to make familiar or acquainted; same as familiarize. [ chiefly Brit. ]
Syn. -- familiarize, acquaint. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n.; pl. Familiarities [ OE. familarite, F. familiaritéfr. L. faniliaritas. See Familiar. ] 1. The state of being familiar; intimate and frequent converse, or association; unconstrained intercourse; freedom from ceremony and constraint; intimacy; as, to live in remarkable familiarity. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything said or done by one person to another unceremoniously and without constraint; esp., in the pl., such actions and words as propriety and courtesy do not warrant; liberties.

Syn. -- Acquaintance; fellowship; affability; intimacy. See Acquaintance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act or process of making familiar; the result of becoming familiar; as, familiarization with scenes of blood. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Familiarized p. pr. & vb. n. Familiarizing ] [ Cf. F. familiariser. ] 1. To make familiar or intimate; to habituate; to accustom; to make well known by practice or converse; as, to familiarize one's self with scenes of distress; we familiarized ourselves with the new surroundings. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make acquainted, or skilled, by practice or study; as, to familiarize one's self with a business, a book, or a science. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having become familiar.
Syn. -- adjusted, acquainted. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

adj. serving to familiarize. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

adv. In a familiar manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Familiarity. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. familiaris. See Familiar. ] Of or pertaining to a family or household; domestic. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The tenets of the Familists. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Family. ] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a fanatical Antinomian sect originating in Holland, and existing in England about 1580, called the Family of Love, who held that religion consists wholly in love. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Familisteries [ F. familistère. ] A community in which many persons unite as in one family, and are regulated by certain communistic laws and customs.

{ } a. Pertaining to Familists. Baxter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Families [ L. familia, fr. famulus servant; akin to Oscan famel servant, cf. faamat he dwells, Skr. dhāman house, fr. dhāto set, make, do: cf. F. famille. Cf. Do, v. t., Doom, Fact, Feat. ] 1. The collective body of persons who live in one house, and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children, and servants, and, as the case may be, lodgers or boarders. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society. [ 1913 Webster ]

The welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society. H. Spencer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Those who descend from one common progenitor; a tribe, clan, or race; kindred; house; as, the human family; the family of Abraham; the father of a family. [ 1913 Webster ]

Go ! and pretend your family is young. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Course of descent; genealogy; line of ancestors; lineage. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Honorable descent; noble or respectable stock; as, a man of family. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A group of kindred or closely related individuals; as, a family of languages; a family of States; the chlorine family. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Biol.) A group of organisms, either animal or vegetable, related by certain points of resemblance in structure or development, more comprehensive than a genus, because it is usually based on fewer or less pronounced points of likeness. In Zoology a family is less comprehesive than an order; in botany it is often considered the same thing as an order. [ 1913 Webster ]

Family circle. See under Circle. --
Family man. (a) A man who has a family; esp., one who has a wife and children living with him and dependent upon him. (b) A man of domestic habits. “The Jews are generally, when married, most exemplary family men.” Mayhew. --
Family of curves or
Family of surfaces (Geom.), a group of curves or surfaces derived from a single equation. --
In a family way, like one belonging to the family. “Why don't we ask him and his ladies to come over in a family way, and dine with some other plain country gentlefolks?” Thackeray. --
In the family way, pregnant. [ Colloq. euphemism ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; want, need, Skr. hāni loss, lack, hā to leave. ] General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. “Worn with famine.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

There was a famine in the land. Gen. xxvi. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

Famine fever (Med.), typhus fever. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Famished p. pr. & vb. n. Famishing. ] [ OE. famen; cf. OF. afamer, L. fames. See Famine, and cf. Affamish. ] 1. To starve, kill, or destroy with hunger. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to distress with hanger. [ 1913 Webster ]

And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Cen. xli. 55. [ 1913 Webster ]

The pains of famished Tantalus he'll feel. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To kill, or to cause to suffer extremity, by deprivation or denial of anything necessary. [ 1913 Webster ]

And famish him of breath, if not of bread. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To force or constrain by famine. [ 1913 Webster ]

He had famished Paris into a surrender. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To die of hunger; to starve. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To suffer extreme hunger or thirst, so as to be exhausted in strength, or to come near to perish. [ 1913 Webster ]

You are all resolved rather to die than to famish? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To suffer extremity from deprivation of anything essential or necessary. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish. Prov. x. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. State of being famished. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. famositas infamy: cf. F. famosité. See Famous. ] The state or quality of being famous. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. famosus, fr. fama fame: cf. F. fameux. See Fame. ] Celebrated in fame or public report; renowned; mach talked of; distinguished in story; -- used in either a good or a bad sense, chiefly the former; often followed by for; as, famous for erudition, for eloquence, for military skill; a famous pirate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Famous for a scolding tongue. Shak.

Syn. -- Noted; remarkable; signal; conspicuous; celebrated; renowned; illustrious; eminent; transcendent; excellent. -- Famous, Renowned, Illustrious. Famous is applied to a person or thing widely spoken of as extraordinary; renowned is applied to those who are named again and again with honor; illustrious, to those who have dazzled the world by the splendor of their deeds or their virtues. See Distinguished. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Renowned. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a famous manner; in a distinguished degree; greatly; splendidly. [ 1913 Webster ]

Then this land was famously enriched
With politic grave counsel. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being famous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. L. famularis of servants. ] Domestic; familiar. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. famulatus, p. p. of famulari to serve, fr. famulus servant. ] To serve. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. famulus servant. ] A collegian of inferior rank or position, corresponding to the sizar at Cambridge. [ Oxford Univ., Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Forisfamiliated p. pr. & vb. n. Forisfamiliating ] [ LL. forisfamiliatus, p. p. of forisfamiliater to forisfamiliate; L. foris abroad, without + familia family. ] (LAw) Literally, to put out of a family; hence, to portion off, so as to exclude further claim of inheritance; to emancipate (as a with his own consent) from paternal authority. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Law) To renounce a legal title to a further share of paternal inheritance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Law) The act of forisfamiliating. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having an exceedingly bad reputation.
Syn. -- infamous, notorious. [ WordNet 1.5 ]