[syn: familiar, intimate]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
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.
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3. Characterized by, or exhibiting, the manner of an intimate
friend; not formal; unconstrained; easy; accessible. "In
loose, familiar strains." --Addison.
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Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. --Shak.
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4. Well known; well understood; common; frequent; as, a
familiar illustration.
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That war, or peace, or both at once, may be
As things acquainted and familiar to us. --Shak.
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There is nothing more familiar than this. --Locke.
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5. Improperly acquainted; wrongly intimate. --Camden.
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Familiar spirit, a demon or evil spirit supposed to attend
at call. --1 Sam. xxviii. 3, 7-9.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Familiar \Fa*mil"iar\, n.
1. An intimate; a companion.
[1913 Webster]
All my familiars watched for my halting. --Jer. xx.
10.
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2. An attendant demon or evil spirit. --Shak.
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3. (Court of Inquisition) A confidential officer employed in
the service of the tribunal, especially in apprehending
and imprisoning the accused.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
familiar
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(p), familiar(p)]
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]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
251 Moby Thesaurus words for "familiar":
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