Adjacent Words

Familiar definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FAMIL'IAR, a. famil'yar. [L. familiaris, familia, family, which see.]
1. Pertaining to a family; domestic.
2. Accustomed by frequent converse; well acquainted with; intimate; close; as a familiar friend or companion.
3. Affable; not formal or distant; easy in conversation.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
4. Well acquainted with; knowing by frequent use. Be familiar with the scriptures.
5. Well known; learned or well understood by frequent use. Let the scriptures be familiar to us.
6. Unceremonious; free; unconstrained; easy. The emperor conversed with the gentleman in the most familiar manner.
7. Common; frequent and intimate. By familiar intercourse, strong attachments are soon formed.
8. Easy; unconstrained; not formal. His letters are written in a familiar style.
He sports in loose familiar strains.
9. Intimate in an unlawful degree.
A poor man found a priest familiar with his wife.
FAMIL'IAR, n.
1. An intimate; a close companion; one long acquainted; one accustomed to another by free, unreserved converse.
All my familiars watched for my halting. Jeremiah 20.
2. A demon or evil spirit supposed to attend at a call. But in general we say, a familiar spirit.
3. In the court of Inquisition, a person who assists in apprehending and imprisoning the accused.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: well known or easily recognized; "a familiar figure"; "familiar songs"; "familiar guests" [ant: unfamiliar]
2: within normal everyday experience; common and ordinary; not strange; "familiar ordinary objects found in every home"; "a familiar everyday scene"; "a familiar excuse"; "a day like any other filled with familiar duties and experiences" [ant: strange, unusual]
3: (usually followed by `with') well informed about or knowing thoroughly; "conversant with business trends"; "familiar with the complex machinery"; "he was familiar with those roads" [syn: conversant, familiar]
4: having mutual interests or affections; of established friendship; "on familiar terms"; "pretending she is on an intimate footing with those she slanders" [syn: familiar, intimate] n
1: a person attached to the household of a high official (as a pope or bishop) who renders service in return for support
2: a friend who is frequently in the company of another; "drinking companions"; "comrades in arms" [syn: companion, comrade, fellow, familiar, associate]
3: a spirit (usually in animal form) that acts as an assistant to a witch or wizard [syn: familiar, familiar spirit]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: 13th century 1. a member of the household of a high official 2. one that is familiar; especially an intimate associate ; companion 3. a spirit often embodied in an animal and held to attend and serve or guard a person 4. a. one who is well acquainted with something b. one who frequents a place II. adjective Etymology: Middle English familier, from Anglo-French, from Latin familiaris, from familia Date: 14th century 1. closely acquainted ; intimate <a familiar family friend> 2. obsolete affable, sociable 3. a. of or relating to a family <remembering past familiar celebrations> b. frequented by families <a familiar resort> 4. a. being free and easy <the familiar association of old friends> b. marked by informality <a familiar essay> c. overly free and unrestrained ; presumptuous <grossly familiar behavior> d. moderately tame <familiar animals> 5. a. frequently seen or experienced ; easily recognized <a familiar theme> b. of everyday occurrence <a familiar routine> c. possibly known but imperfectly remembered <her face looked familiar> 6. having personal or intimate knowledge — used with with <familiar with the facts of the case> Synonyms: see common • familiarly adverb • familiarness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 a (often foll. by to) well known; no longer novel. b common, usual; often encountered or experienced. 2 (foll. by with) knowing a thing well or in detail (am familiar with all the problems). 3 (often foll. by with) a well acquainted (with a person); in close friendship; intimate. b sexually intimate. 4 excessively informal; impertinent. 5 unceremonious, informal. --n. 1 a close friend or associate. 2 RC Ch. a person rendering certain services in a pope's or bishop's household. 3 (in full familiar spirit) a demon supposedly attending and obeying a witch etc. Derivatives: familiarly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF familier f. L familiaris (as FAMILY)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Familiar Fa*mil`iar, 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. 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.'' --Addison. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. --Shak. 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. --Shak. There is nothing more familiar than this. --Locke. 5. Improperly acquainted; wrongly intimate. --Camden. Familiar spirit, a demon or evil spirit supposed to attend at call. --1 Sam. xxviii. 3, 7-9.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Familiar Fa*mil"iar, n. 1. An intimate; a companion. All my familiars watched for my halting. --Jer. xx. 10. 2. An attendant demon or evil spirit. --Shak. 3. (Court of Inquisition) A confidential officer employed in the service of the tribunal, especially in apprehending and imprisoning the accused.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If someone or something is familiar to you, you recognize them or know them well. He talked of other cultures as if they were more familiar to him than his own... They are already familiar faces on our TV screens. ...the familiar names of long-established local firms. ADJ: oft ADJ to n • familiarity Tony was unnerved by the uncanny familiarity of her face. N-UNCOUNT 2. If you are familiar with something, you know or understand it well. Lesinko is quite familiar with Central Television. He worked there for 25 years... ADJ: v-link ADJ with n • familiarity The enemy would always have the advantage of familiarity with the rugged terrain. N-UNCOUNT: usu N with n 3. If someone you do not know well behaves in a familiar way towards you, they treat you very informally in a way that you might find offensive. The driver of that taxi-cab seemed to me familiar to the point of impertinence... ADJ [disapproval] • familiarity She needed to control her surprise at the easy familiarity with which her host greeted the head waiter. N-UNCOUNT • familiarly 'Gerald, isn't it?' I began familiarly. ADV

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fa-mil'-yar: Is found as an adjective qualifying "friend" and "spirit."

(1) Used, in a number of Old Testament passages, of spirits which were supposed to come at the call of one who had power over them. 'obh, literally, something "hollow"; compare 'obh, "bottle" (Job 32:19 the King James Version); because the voice of the spirit might have been supposed to come from the one possessed, as from a bottle, or because of the hollow sound which characterized the utterance, as out of the ground (Isa 29:4); or, as some have conjectured, akin to 'ubh, "return" (nekromantis). Probably called "familiar" because it was regarded as a servant (famulus), belonging to the family (familiaris), who might be summoned to do the commands of the one possessing it. The practice of consulting familiar spirits was forbidden by the Mosaic law (Le 19:31; 20:6,27; De 18:11). King Saul put this away early in his reign, but consulted the witch of Endor, who "had a familiar spirit" (1Sa 28:3,7,8,9; 1Ch 10:13). King Manasseh fell into the same sin (2Ki 21:6; 2Ch 33:6); but Josiah put those who dealt with familiar spirits out of the land (2Ki 23:24).

It seems probable, however, that the practice prevailed more or less among the people till the exile (Isa 8:19; 19:3). See "Divination by the 'Ob" in The Expositor T, IX, 157; ASTROLOGY, 1; COMMUNION WITH DEMONS.

(2) "Familiars," "familiar friend," from yadha`, "to know," hence, "acquaintance," one intimately attached (Job 19:14); but more frequently of 'enosh shalom, "man of (my or thy) peace," that is, one to whom the salutation of peace is given (Ps 41:9; Jer 20:10; 38:22; also in Ob 1:7, rendered "the men that were at peace with thee").

Edward Bagby Pollard

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Conversant, well acquainted, well versed. 2. Intimate, close, near, friendly, amicable, fraternal, cordial, on a friendly footing, on friendly terms. 3. Friendly, social, sociable, accessible, affable, kindly, courteous, civil, companionable, conversible. 4. Unceremonious, unconstrained, free, easy, informal, free and easy. 5. Too free, lacking in proper reserve, deficient in proper respect. 6. Well-known. II. n. 1. Intimate, intimate friend, bosom friend, boon companion, close acquaintance, near associate. 2. Familiar spirit, demon or evil spirit at call.

Moby Thesaurus

Bohemian, abreast, accepted, accustomed, acquaintance, acquainted, acquainted with, advocate, affable, alter ego, amicable, amigo, ancestral spirits, angel, arrogant, attendant godling, au courant, au fait, audacious, average, aware, back-number, backer, banal, best friend, bewhiskered, bold, boon, bosom friend, bromidic, brother, buddy-buddy, bumptious, casual, casual acquaintance, chatty, chummy, close, close acquaintance, close friend, cognizant, cold, colloquial, comfortable, common, commonly known, commonplace, confidant, confidante, confidential, conformable, conscious, consuetudinary, control, contumelious, conventional, conversant, conversant with, conversational, cool, cordial, corny, cozy, current, customary, cut-and-dried, daemon, degage, demon, disdainful, disrespectful, easy, easygoing, established, everyday, fade, fairy godmother, familiar spirit, familiar with, favorer, fellow, fellow creature, fellowman, folksy, forward, free, free and easy, frequent, fresh, friend, friendly, fusty, generally accepted, genial, genius, genius domus, genius loci, good angel, good genius, gracious, guardian, guardian angel, guardian spirit, guide, habitual, hackney, hackneyed, hand and glove, hand-in-hand, haymish, homely, homey, household, household gods, hubristic, impertinent, impudent, informal, informed, informed of, inseparable, inseparable friend, insolent, insulting, intimate, intrusive, invisible helper, irregular, lares and penates, lares compitales, lares familiaris, lares permarini, lares praestites, lares viales, loose, lover, manes, mate, mindful, ministering angel, moth-eaten, musty, natural, near, neighbor, neighborly, no stranger to, nonstandard, normal, normative, notorious, numen, obtaining, obtrusive, offhand, offhanded, officious, old hat, ordinary, other self, overpresumptuous, overweening, palsy-walsy, partisan, penates, pickup, plain, platitudinous, popular, predominating, prescribed, prescriptive, presuming, presumptuous, prevailing, prevalent, privy to, procacious, prosaic, proverbial, public, pushy, received, regular, regulation, relaxed, repository, routine, set, simple, snug, sociable, social, special providence, spoken, square, stale, standard, stereotyped, stock, substandard, supporter, sympathizer, talked-about, talked-of, tete-a-tete, thick, thick as thieves, threadbare, time-honored, timeworn, totem, traditional, trite, truistic, tutelar god, tutelary, unaffected, unassuming, unceremonious, unconstrained, unconventional, uneducated, universal, universally admitted, universally recognized, unliterary, unofficial, unoriginal, unreserved, unrestrained, unstudied, up, up on, uppish, uppity, usual, vernacular, versed, warmed-over, well-kenned, well-known, well-recognized, well-understood, well-wisher, well-worn, widely known, widespread, wonted, worn, worn thin