family leave, social policy permitting workers to take a specified amount of time off from the job to attend to pressing family needs. The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act (1993) attempts to balance family and work obligations. This law, which covers companies with 50 or more workers and employees with at least a year of service, mandates up to 12 weeks of leave per year for various family medical emergencies and for the birth or adoption of a child. It also stipulates that the employers must continue to provide health care benefits and that returning workers must be given their old job or an equivalent position. Many states also have family leave laws, and in many European countries and Japan, longer periods of paid leave are common.

family, in taxonomy: see classification.

family, a basic unit of social structure, the exact definition of which can vary greatly from time to time and from culture to culture. How a society defines family as a primary group, and the functions it asks families to perform, are by no means constant. There has been much recent discussion of the nuclear family, which consists only of parents and children, but the nuclear family is by no means universal. In the United States, the percentage of households consisting of a nuclear family declined from 45% in 1960 to 23.5% in 2000. In preindustrial societies, the ties of kinship bind the individual both to the family of orientation, into which one is born, and to the family of procreation, which one founds at marriage and which often includes one's spouse's relatives. The nuclear family also may be extended through the acquisition of more than one spouse (polygamy and polygyny), or through the common residence of two or more married couples and their children or of several generations connected in the male or female line. This is called the extended family; it is widespread in many parts of the world, by no means exclusively in pastoral and agricultural economies. The primary functions of the family are reproductive, economic, social, and educational; it is through kin—itself variously defined—that the child first absorbs the culture of his group.

Evolution of the Western Family

The patriarchal family, which prevailed among the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, is often associated with polygamy (see marriage). In Rome, the paterfamilias was the only person recognized as an independent individual under the law. He possessed all religious rights as priest of the family ancestor cult, all economic rights as sole owner of the family property, and power of life and death over the members of the family. At his death, his name, property, and authority descended to his male heirs. The Roman system was transferred in many of its details into both the canon and secular law of Western Europe.

In the 19th cent., when the Western nations began to grant women equal rights with men with respect to the ownership of property (see husband and wife), the control of children (see parent and child), divorce, and the like, basic changes took place in the structure of the family, and the rights and protections associated with it. The state has also intervened to modify the authority of parents over their children. At the same time, education has shifted increasingly from the household to the school. The effect has been to loosen traditional family ties. In Western Europe, where legislation provides equal financial benefits and legal standing to all children, families have increasingly come to consist of one or two unwed parents and children, especially in Scandinavia and other part of N Europe.

Another factor affecting the modern Euro-American family was the Industrial Revolution, which removed from the home to the factory many economic tasks, such as baking, spinning, and weaving. Economic and social conditions have discouraged the presence of the husband and father in the home; in industrial communities the wife and mother also is often employed outside the home, leaving the children to be cared for by others. Sociologists and psychologists find in these changed relations of the members of the family to each other and of the family to the community at large the source of many problems such as divorce, mental illness, and juvenile delinquency.

Subfamily	Group	Subgroup	Languages and Principal Dialects
Anatolian			Hieroglypic Hittite*, Hittite (Kanesian)*, Luwian*, Lycian*, Lydian*, Palaic*
Baltic			Latvian (Lettish), Lithuanian, Old Prussian*
Celtic	Brythonic		Breton, Cornish, Welsh
	Continental		Gaulish*
	Goidelic or Gaelic		Irish (Irish Gaelic), Manx*, Scottish Gaelic
Germanic	East Germanic		Burgundian*, Gothic*, Vandalic*
	North Germanic		Old Norse* (see Norse), Danish, Faeroese, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish
	West Germanic (see Grimm's law)	High German	German, Yiddish
		Low German	Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Flemish, Frisian, Plattdeutsch (see German language)
Greek			Aeolic*, Arcadian*, Attic*, Byzantine Greek*, Cyprian*, Doric*, Ionic*, Koiné*, Modern Greek
Indo-Iranian	Dardic or Pisacha		Kafiri, Kashmiri, Khowar, Kohistani, Romany (Gypsy), Shina
	Indic or Indo-Aryan		Pali*, Prakrit*, Sanskrit*, Vedic*
		Central Indic	Hindi, Hindustani, Urdu
		East Indic	Assamese, Bengali (Bangla), Bihari, Oriya
		Northwest Indic	Punjabi, Sindhi
		Pahari	Central Pahari, Eastern Pahari (Nepali), Western Pahari
		South Indic	Marathi (including major dialect Konkani), Sinhalese (Singhalese)
		West Indic	Bhili, Gujarati, Rajasthani (many dialects)
	Iranian		Avestan*, Old Persian*
		East Iranian	Baluchi, Khwarazmian*, Ossetic, Pamir dialects, Pashto (Afghan), Saka (Khotanese)*, Sogdian*, Yaghnobi
		West Iranian	Kurdish, Pahlavi (Middle Persian)*, Parthian*, Persian (Farsi), Tajiki
Italic	(Non-Romance)		Faliscan*, Latin, Oscan*, Umbrian*
	Romance or Romanic	Eastern Romance	Italian, Rhaeto-Romanic, Romanian, Sardinian
		Western Romance	Catalan, French, Ladino, Portuguese, Provençal, Spanish
Slavic or Slavonic	East Slavic		Belarusian (White Russian), Russian, Ukrainian
	South Slavic		Bulgarian, Church Slavonic*, Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian
	West Slavic		Czech, Kashubian, Lusatian (Sorbian or Wendish), Polabian*, Polish, Slovak
Thraco-Illyrian			Albanian, Illyrian*, Thracian*
Thraco-Phrygian			Armenian, Grabar (Classical Armenian)*, Phrygian*
Tokharian (W China)			Tokharian A (Agnean)*, Tokharian B (Kuchean)*

* Asterisk indicates a dead language.

Holy Family, term referring to the child Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In the Roman Catholic Church the feast in its honor falls usually on the first Sunday after the Epiphany. In art the theme of the Holy Family became popular during the Renaissance, probably deriving from the larger theme of the Nativity in medieval representations. There are fine examples by Signorelli, Michelangelo, and Rubens.

Family Compact, several alliances between France and Spain in the form of agreements between the French and Spanish branches of the Bourbon family. The first of the three compacts, the Treaty of the Escorial (1733), was continued and extended by the second agreement (1743). The third, and most important, of the treaties was that of 1761. Both England and France sought Spanish support in the Seven Years War, but England's attack on Spanish colonies and shipping alienated Charles III of Spain and the king rejected the English offer in favor of the proposal made by the French minister, the duc de Choiseul. The pact, which dealt with political and commercial relations and with the entry of Spain into the war, also included the Bourbon ruler of the Two Sicilies and the Infante Philip, duke of Parma. Spain entered the war (1762) but was of small use to France; the economic and political provisions of the pact proved more enduring than the military ones.

Family Compact, name popularly applied to a small, powerful group of men who dominated the government of Upper Canada (Ontario) from the closing years of the 18th cent. to the beginnings of responsible government under the Baldwin-LaFontaine Reform ministry (1848-51). The group, some of whose members belonged to the same family and most of whom were men of wealth, controlled the legislative and executive councils, had a virtual monopoly of political office, and strongly influenced banking, education, the issuing of land grants, the affairs of the Anglican church in Canada, and the courts. New settlers from Great Britain and the United States, finding themselves denied political opportunity, were drawn into an opposition movement, which in time became the Reform party. Religious differences embittered the struggle, since the Family Compact (the term first appeared c.1828) was composed almost entirely of members of the Church of England. The Château Clique was the name given to a similar powerful group in French Lower Canada.

Carter Family, group of singers that specialized in traditional music of the Southern Appalachian Mountains; it consisted of A(lvin) P(leasant) Carter, 1891-1960, b. Maces Spring, Va.; his wife, Sara (Dougherty) Carter, 1898-1979, b. Flatwoods, Va.; and his sister-in-law, Maybelle (Addington) Carter, 1909-1978, b. Nickelsville, Va. Perhaps the most influential group in the history of country music, they helped to bring folk and country into America's cultural mainstream. The group sang locally until 1927 when they responded to a talent scout's ad, were "discovered," and became recording artists. During their career they recorded more than 300 songs, sometimes joined by Sara or Maybelle's children.

The Carters' style was marked by close harmonies, by Sara's autoharp, and by "Mother" Maybelle's distinctive guitar-picking style, later adopted by many folk and country artists. Among their best-known songs are Wildwood Flower, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, and Wabash Cannonball. While the so-called Original Carter Family disbanded in 1943 (seven years after Sara divorced A. P.), later Carters followed in their tradition; Maybelle continued to perform into the 1960s along with her daughters Helen (1927-98), Anita (1933-99), and June (1929-2003), who was married to and often sang with Johnny Cash. Today, A. P. and Sara's children Janette and Joe both sing country music, notably at the Carter Family Memorial Music Center in Hiltons, Va. (est. 1979). The Carter Family was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970.

Family Hamamelidaceae, comprising 23 genera of shrubs and trees, native to tropical and warm temperate regions. The six species of the genus Hamamelis include such ornamentals as witch hazel, winter hazel, and Fothergilla, which are outstanding for their early flowering and fall leaf colour. Members of the family are characterized by simple leaves and by flowers with four or five petals and sepals each. American, or common, witch hazel (H. virginiana) flowers in fall and retains yellow, cuplike calyxes (collections of sepals) through the winter. The common name refers to the forked twigs that were sometimes used for water-witching, or dowsing to locate underground water. The fragrant liniment witch hazel is made from the dried leaves and sometimes from twigs and bark. Brilliant autumn leaf colour is an outstanding trait of ironwood (Parrotia persica). Another genus, Altingia, has seven species, all Asian and all valued for their timber. A. excelsa is one of the largest trees of the Asian tropics, sometimes reaching a height of 82 ft (25 m).

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Family Scrophulariaceae, containing about 4,000 species of flowering plants in 190 genera, found worldwide. The family is notable for its many ornamental garden plants, including snapdragon (Antirrhinum species) and foxglove. Antirrhinum contains about 40 species native to western North America and the western Mediterranean. Other members of the family, including butter-and-eggs, are wildflowers. Flowers of the family are tubular and bilaterally symmetrical (two-lipped).

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Family Papaveraceae, containing about 200 species of mostly herbaceous plants and some woody small trees and shrubs. Most species of this family, which is outstanding for its many garden ornamentals (largely of the genus Papaver) and for pharmaceutically important plants, are found in the Northern Hemisphere. All have cup-shaped flowers, a capsule fruit, leaves that are usually deeply cut or divided into leaflets, and coloured sap. Members include the opium poppy and the corn, or Flanders, poppy (P. rhoeas), the seeds of which may lie dormant for years. The latter became a symbol of World War I because it bloomed in fields that had been disturbed by battle. Seealso California poppy.

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Family Passifloraceae, composed of about 600 species of herbaceous or woody vines, shrubs, and trees in 20 genera. Members of this family grow mostly in warm regions. Many species produce edible fruits. Members of the largest genus, Passiflora, are highly prized for their showy, unusual flowers. A pedestal-like structure in the centre of the flower carries the reproductive parts of both sexes. The passionflower blossom is often used to symbolize events in the last hours (Passion) of Jesus, which accounts for the name of the group.

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Family Solanaceae, composed of at least 2,400 species of flowering plants in about 95 genera. Though found worldwide, the nightshades are most abundant in tropical Latin America. Many are economically important as food or medicinal plants. Among the most important are the potato, eggplant, tomato, garden pepper, tobacco, and many garden ornamentals, including the petunia. The medicinally significant nightshades are potent sources of such alkaloids as nicotine, atropine, and scopolamine; they include deadly nightshade (belladonna), jimsonweed (Datura stramonium), henbane, and mandrake. The genus Solanum contains almost half the species in the family. The species usually called nightshade in North America and England is S. dulcamara, also called bittersweet and woody nightshade.

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Family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae), composed of 350 genera of mostly herbaceous plants with peppery-flavored leaves. The pungent seeds of some species lead the spice trade in volume traded. Mustard flowers take the form of a Greek cross, with four petals, usually white, yellow, or lavender, and an equal number of sepals. The seeds are produced in podlike fruits. Members of the mustard family include many plants of economic importance that have been extensively altered and domesticated by humans. The most important genus is Brassica (see brassica); turnips, radishes, rutabagas, and many ornamental plants are also members of the family. As a spice, mustard is sold in seed, powder, or paste form.

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Family Aceraceae, composed of about 200 species (in the genera Dipteronia in China and Acer across the Northern Hemisphere) of ornamental, shade, and timber trees. Maples are important ornamentals for lawns, along streets, and in parks. They offer a great variety of form, size, and foliage; many display striking autumn colour. The red maple (A. rubrum) is one of the most common trees in its native eastern North America, where it tolerates compacted wet soils and city pollution. Box elder (A. negundo) grows quickly to 30–50 ft (9–15 m) and resists drought, so early prairie settlers planted many for shade and for wood to make crates, furniture, paper pulp, and charcoal. The watery, sweet sap of the sugar maple (A. saccharum) is boiled down for syrup and sugar; the wood of certain sugar maples is used for furniture.

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Family Malvaceae (order Malvales), which contains about 95 genera of herbs, shrubs, and small trees. Mallow species occur in all but the coldest parts of the world, but they are most numerous in the tropics. Hairs that branch into starlike patterns commonly cover some or most vegetative (nonflower) parts of these plants. The flowers are regular and often showy. Cotton is the most important member of the family economically. The green fruits of okra are edible. Many species are valued as ornamentals, including hollyhock and rose of Sharon.

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Family Rubiaceae, composed of about 6,500 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees in 500 genera. The leaves usually are large and evergreen in tropical species, deciduous in temperate species, and needlelike or scalelike in desert species. The plants may bear a single flower or many small flowers clustered together. Economically important products of the family include coffee, quinine, ipecac, the red dye alizarin (from the roots of common madder, Rubia tinctorum, and of R. cordifolia), and ornamentals including gardenias.

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Family Lauraceae, composed of about 2,200 species of often aromatic and evergreen flowering plants in 45 genera. Included in this family are ornamentals and plants that produce cooking herbs, food fruits, and medicinal extracts. The genus Laurus includes bay laurel (L. nobilis), native to the Mediterranean, which provides bay leaves for cooking, essential oils for perfumery, and the wreaths that crowned victorious heroes and athletes in ancient Greece. Another genus, Cinnamomum, includes the camphor tree and cinnamon. Also included in this family are the avocado, mountain laurel, and sassafras.

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Family Hippocastanaceae, composed of the buckeyes and the horse chestnuts (genus Aesculus), native to the northern temperate zone. The best-known species of horse chestnut is the common, or European, horse chestnut (A. hippocastanum), native to southeastern Europe but widely cultivated as a large shade and street tree. The Champs-Élysées in Paris is lined with rows of horse-chestnut trees.

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Family Gentianaceae (order Gentianales), composed of some 1,100 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants and, rarely, shrubs, native mostly to northern temperate regions. The four or five united petals that make up the flower may be deeply divided; they overlap and are twisted in the bud. Some species are used in herbal remedies and in the making of dyes. Several species of gentians (genus Gentiana) bear attractive flowers and are cultivated as garden ornamentals. Gentians occur widely in moist meadows and woods.

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Family Linaceae (order Linales), composed of about 14 genera of herbaceous plants and shrubs found throughout the world. The genus Linum includes flax, perhaps the most important member of the family, grown for linen fibre and linseed oil and as a garden ornamental. Reinwardtia species are primarily low shrubs, grown in greenhouses and outdoors in warm climates; R. indica, yellow flax, is notable for its large yellow flowers, borne in profusion in late fall and early winter.

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or family medicine or general practice

Field of medicine that stresses comprehensive primary health care, emphasizing the family unit. Practitioners must be familiar to some degree with medical specialties and, especially in health maintenance organizations, are now often gatekeepers who refer patients to specialists when necessary. Once virtually the only kind of medicine, family practice has been defined as a separate field only since increasing specialization in medicine led to a shortage of practitioners. A 1963 World Health Organization report stressing the need for medical education to focus on the patient as a whole throughout life led to specific programs in family practice.

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Use of measures designed to regulate the number and spacing of children within a family, largely to curb population growth and ensure each family’s access to limited resources. The first attempts to offer family planning services began with private groups and often aroused strong opposition. Activists such as Margaret Sanger in the U.S., Marie Stopes in England, and Dhanvanthis Rama Rau in India eventually succeeded in establishing clinics for family planning and health care. Today many countries have established national policies and encourage the use of public family services. The United Nations and the World Health Organization offer technical assistance. Seealso birth control.

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In pedology, a group of soils that have similar profiles and include one or more subdivisions called series. The primary characteristics that define each of the nearly 6,600 identified soil families are the physical and chemical properties—especially texture, mineral composition, temperature, and depth—that are important for the growth of plants.

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Leading noble family of Poland in the 18th century, known as the Familia. It first achieved widespread power through the efforts of Prince Michal Fryderyk Czartoryski (1696–1775) and his brother August. The Familia, which sought the enactment of constitutional reforms, attained the height of its influence in the court of Augustus III. The family estate at Pulawy was confiscated in 1794, during the third Partition of Poland. However, the Familia continued to wield significant power, notably through the princes Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski (1734–1823), a patron of the arts, and Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (1770–1861), who worked for the restoration of Poland.

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German theatrical family. Ludwig Devrient (1784–1832) was the greatest actor of the Romantic period in Germany. At the Dessau court theatre he developed his talent for character parts. After his Berlin debut in The Robbers (1814), he played Falstaff, Shylock, King Lear, and Richard III to great acclaim. His eldest nephew, Karl August Devrient (1797–1872), acted in Dresden, Karlsruhe, and principally Hannover (1839–72), where he was popular in plays by Shakespeare, Goethe, and Schiller. Karl's brother Eduard (1801–77) began his career as an opera singer, then worked as an actor and stage director in Dresden (1844–52) and Karlsruhe (1852–70), where he directed German classics and made new translations of Shakespeare's plays. Karl's other brother, Emil (1803–72), made his stage debut in 1821 and acted with the Dresden court theatre (1831–68); his greatest successes were as Hamlet and as Goethe's Tasso. Eduard's son Otto (1838–94) acted in various companies, then became a director in Karlsruhe and other German cities. In Weimar he produced his own version of Goethe's Faust (1876); he also wrote several tragedies. Karl's son Max (1857–1929) made his debut in Dresden in 1878 and in 1882 joined the famed Vienna Burgtheater.

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