The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Family \Fam"i*ly\, n.; pl. Families. [L. familia, fr. famulus
   servant; akin to Oscan famel servant, cf. faamat he dwells,
   Skr. dh[=a]man house, fr. dh[=a]to 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]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Circle \Cir"cle\ (s[~e]r"k'l), n. [OE. cercle, F. cercle, fr. L.
   circulus (Whence also AS. circul), dim. of circus circle,
   akin to Gr. kri`kos, ki`rkos, circle, ring. Cf. Circus,
   Circum-.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. A plane figure, bounded by a single curve line called its
      circumference, every part of which is equally distant from
      a point within it, called the center.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The line that bounds such a figure; a circumference; a
      ring.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Astron.) An instrument of observation, the graduated limb
      of which consists of an entire circle.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: When it is fixed to a wall in an observatory, it is
         called a mural circle; when mounted with a telescope
         on an axis and in Y's, in the plane of the meridian, a
         meridian circle or transit circle; when involving
         the principle of reflection, like the sextant, a
         reflecting circle; and when that of repeating an
         angle several times continuously along the graduated
         limb, a repeating circle.
         [1913 Webster]

   4. A round body; a sphere; an orb.
      [1913 Webster]

            It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth.
                                                  --Is. xi. 22.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. Compass; circuit; inclosure.
      [1913 Webster]

            In the circle of this forest.         --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. A company assembled, or conceived to assemble, about a
      central point of interest, or bound by a common tie; a
      class or division of society; a coterie; a set.
      [1913 Webster]

            As his name gradually became known, the circle of
            his acquaintance widened.             --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. A circular group of persons; a ring.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. A series ending where it begins, and repeating itself.
      [1913 Webster]

            Thus in a circle runs the peasant's pain. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. (Logic) A form of argument in which two or more unproved
      statements are used to prove each other; inconclusive
      reasoning.
      [1913 Webster]

            That heavy bodies descend by gravity; and, again,
            that gravity is a quality whereby a heavy body
            descends, is an impertinent circle and teaches
            nothing.                              --Glanvill.
      [1913 Webster]

   10. Indirect form of words; circumlocution. [R.]
       [1913 Webster]

             Has he given the lie,
             In circle, or oblique, or semicircle. --J.
                                                  Fletcher.
       [1913 Webster]

   11. A territorial division or district.
       [1913 Webster]

   Note:

   The Circles of the Holy Roman Empire, ten in number, were
      those principalities or provinces which had seats in the
      German Diet.
      [1913 Webster]

   Azimuth circle. See under Azimuth.

   Circle of altitude (Astron.), a circle parallel to the
      horizon, having its pole in the zenith; an almucantar.

   Circle of curvature. See Osculating circle of a curve
      (Below).

   Circle of declination. See under Declination.

   Circle of latitude.
       (a) (Astron.) A great circle perpendicular to the plane
           of the ecliptic, passing through its poles.
       (b) (Spherical Projection) A small circle of the sphere
           whose plane is perpendicular to the axis.

   Circles of longitude, lesser circles parallel to the
      ecliptic, diminishing as they recede from it.

   Circle of perpetual apparition, at any given place, the
      boundary of that space around the elevated pole, within
      which the stars never set. Its distance from the pole is
      equal to the latitude of the place.

   Circle of perpetual occultation, at any given place, the
      boundary of the space around the depressed pole, within
      which the stars never rise.

   Circle of the sphere, a circle upon the surface of the
      sphere, called a great circle when its plane passes
      through the center of the sphere; in all other cases, a
      small circle.

   Diurnal circle. See under Diurnal.

   Dress circle, a gallery in a theater, generally the one
      containing the prominent and more expensive seats.

   Druidical circles (Eng. Antiq.), a popular name for certain
      ancient inclosures formed by rude stones circularly
      arranged, as at Stonehenge, near Salisbury.

   Family circle, a gallery in a theater, usually one
      containing inexpensive seats.

   Horary circles (Dialing), the lines on dials which show the
      hours.

   Osculating circle of a curve (Geom.), the circle which
      touches the curve at some point in the curve, and close to
      the point more nearly coincides with the curve than any
      other circle. This circle is used as a measure of the
      curvature of the curve at the point, and hence is called
      circle of curvature.

   Pitch circle. See under Pitch.

   Vertical circle, an azimuth circle.

   Voltaic circuit or Voltaic circle. See under Circuit.


   To square the circle. See under Square.

   Syn: Ring; circlet; compass; circuit; inclosure.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

family circle
    n 1: rearmost or uppermost area in the balcony containing the
         least expensive seats [syn: second balcony, family
         circle, upper balcony, peanut gallery]