familiar

 
Pronunciation: /fəˈmɪlɪə/

adjective

  • 1well known from long or close association: their faces will be familiar to many of you a familiar voice
  • often encountered or experienced; common: the situation was all too familiar
  • (familiar with) having a good knowledge of: ensure that you are familiar with the heating controls
  • 2in close friendship; intimate: she had not realized they were on such familiar terms
  • informal or intimate to an inappropriate degree: he was being overly familiar with Gloria

noun

  • 1 (also familiar spirit) a demon supposedly attending and obeying a witch, often said to assume the form of an animal: her familiars were her two little griffons that nested in her skirts
  • 2a close friend or associate.
  • 3(in the Roman Catholic Church) a person rendering certain services in a pope’s or bishop’s household.

Derivatives

familiarly

adverb

Origin:

Middle English (in the sense 'intimate', 'on a family footing'): from Old French familier, from Latin familiaris, from familia 'household servants, family', from famulus 'servant'

Spelling help

Remember that familiar is spelled with a single l.