FAMILIAR • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Familiar

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/fəmˈɪljər/ Listen

adjective

Familiar adj.

1.

Of or pertaining to a family; domestic. "Familiar feuds."

Synonyms: familial.

2.

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

3.

Characterized by, or exhibiting, the manner of an intimate friend; not formal; unconstrained; easy; accessible. "In loose, familiar strains." "Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar."

4.

Well known; well understood; common; frequent; as, a familiar illustration. "That war, or peace, or both at once, may be As things acquainted and familiar to us." "There is nothing more familiar than this."

5.

Improperly acquainted; wrongly intimate.

Familiar spirit, a demon or evil spirit supposed to attend at call.

noun

Familiar n.

1.

An intimate; a companion. "All my familiars watched for my halting."

2.

An attendant demon or evil spirit.

3.

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

See images of 'Familiar'

Etymology of 'Familiar'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Familiar" Quotes from Famous Books

... vessels doing notable rescue work. The Arethusa was a cruiser of 3,600 tons and had taken an active part in all of the work that fell to the British fleet. She was one of the pet ships of the navy, having a reputation for speed and luck that made her name familiar to readers the world over. A half dozen brushes with the enemy had found her well up in the fighting line, and she was said by sailormen to have a charmed existence, never having been hit. But she sunk quickly after ...

— The Story of the Great War, Volume IV (of 8) • Francis J. (Francis Joseph) Reynolds, Allen L. (Allen Leon)

... very light on a walnut then. So I thought that maybe our observations and tests were over before they ever started, but by July 8 or 10, a new brood had started. Dr. G. C. Decker could hardly believe it. There is only one brood of the Meadow spittle bug with which he was familiar, but this was a different species. It was very much more numerous than the first brood. Ninety-five per cent of the terminals were infested. If that does anything to nut production it is bound to reduce the bearing. Now that brood lasted until late August. The adults continued to emerge ...

— Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Forty-Second Annual Meeting • Northern Nut Growers Association

... let them off. One of them, therefore, on reaching the burghers, very ingeniously remarked, "Well, you know, we actually took you for khakis." The other one was not slow to offer the burghers some fruit which he had in his pocket. And so they began talking to one another in a most familiar way. One of the Boers, a certain Mr. Bresler, suspected these two unknown friends, and while the other three were conversing with them as they sat on their horses, he (Bresler) kept his eyes on them, and watched their every movement. At length Bresler ...

— In the Shadow of Death • P. H. Kritzinger and R. D. McDonald

... yet satisfied. He was anxious to have some vegetables; and over the open ground, among the grass, he had seen plants which were very familiar to him. There were dandelions; and Tom saw in them something that seemed worth more than any of his other acquisitions. Going forth in search of these, he managed to get his pan full of them. These he washed, and after cutting off the roots, he put them in the pan with water, and then ...

— Lost in the Fog • James De Mille

... too little familiar with Roman phraseology to perceive that after all the Holy See had simply consented to suspend judgment in view of the uprightness of their intentions and the ...

— Life of St. Francis of Assisi • Paul Sabatier

Copyright © 2025 Free Translator.org