NYT Dictionary

FAMILIAL

/fəˈmɪljəl/
Adjectivefa-MIL-ialfa-mil-ial · 3 syllablesGrade 7

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2025, 2026

Meaning

Of or pertaining to a human family.

Etymology

Origin: Latin

From French familial (“relating to a family; familial”), from Latin familia (“family (in the sense of the slaves working for a household); household”) (from famulus (“servant; slave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁-m-eló-, from *dʰeh₁- (“to do, place, put”)) + French -al (adjective-forming suffix) (from Latin -ālis, from Proto-Indo-European *-li-). By surface analysis, family + -al. Piecewise doublet of familiar.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

genetichereditaryinheritedtransmittedtransmissible

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 4 recorded puzzles:

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