FAMILY - A Blogvillage Goes Gonzo Post

Before I started the post I looked up the word FAMILY in my dictionary, it said; a group of people who are closely related by birth, marriage or adoption. I think that pretty much covers what we would all initially class as a family....then I looked further...there was another definition...this one said; a group whose members are related in origin, characteristics or occupation. This made me think more deeply about the word. I remembered the Botany lessons I had at school many, many years ago...I learnt that plants belong to different families..i.e. the rose family is Rosaceae, the sweet pea family is Leguminosae..................lessons on "family" that now all these years later I use in the course of my love of gardening. In Zoology the word family is used......horses, asses and zebra are not brothers and sisters but they still belong to the same family group Equidae.


I started to wonder in what others area the word Family is used. By the wonders of Google I found it used in;

mathematics..... a set of related mathematical curves, surfaces, or functions, usually expressed as a single equation containing one or more parameters or arbitrary constants i.e. a family of concentric circles

physics..... a group of radioactive isotopes that collectively constitute a decay series or chain

linguistics..... a group of languages that have a common origin

and of course one that I must add (The Godfather being one of my husband's favourite films)

a branch of the Mafia or of a similar large criminal group



There may be more examples; maybe you can think of some yourselves; but I think this proves the point that when we say the word FAMILY it does not only mean a mother or father, uncle or aunt but has a whole world of different connotations.

But to go back to the beginning I will end this post with a photograph of some of my family;