Chinese

Noun

家族

1. family; household; clan

   家族世襲 / 家族世袭  ―  jiāzú shìxí  ―  hereditary succession

Synonyms

• (family): 家庭 (jiātíng), 家 (jiā)

Descendants

Japanese

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 家族 ‎(kˠa d͡zuk̚).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• (Tokyo) か​ぞく [káꜜzòkù] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠zo̞kɯᵝ]

Noun

家族 ‎(hiragana かぞく, romaji kazoku)

1. a family; a household
   • 2015 July 27, Åsa Ekström, “ようこそ、ここへ [Welcome Here]”, in さよならセプテンバー [Goodbye September], volume 1 (fiction, in Japanese), Tokyo: Creek & River:

     ぼくらは幸 (しあわ)せな家 (か)族 (ぞく)になるよぜったい！

     Bokura wa shiawase na kazoku ni naru yo zettai!

     We'll definitely make a happy family!

Usage notes

家族 refers to one’s own family, particularly immediate family – parents, children, and siblings. To refer to another’s family, one uses the honorific form ご家族 ‎(go-kazoku, “another’s family”, honorific). To refer to one’s relatives generally, one uses 親戚 ‎(shinseki, “relative”), which includes even distant relatives. For close relatives – say, aunts, uncles, and close cousins – one may use 近親 ‎(kinshin, “close relative”). For close people, not necessarily family, one may use 身内 ‎(miuchi, “close family, close friends”).

Synonyms

• 御家族, ご家族 (かぞく) ‎(go-kazoku) (honorific)

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3

• 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, ISBN 4095102535.

Korean

Noun

家族 • ‎(gajok) ‎(hangeul 가족)

1. Hanja form^? of 가족, “family, household”.

Vietnamese

Noun

家族

1. Hán tự form of gia tộc, “family”