Word
| Definition
| Example
|
ancestral adj.
| Relating to family members from earlier generations
| Sweden is my ancestralhomeland, from which my great-grandfather emigrated in 1922.
|
cohesion n.
| Ability to stay together as a unit
| Family cohesionis difficult if young people have to go far away to find work.
|
descendant n.
| A direct relative in a later generation (such as one’s
son, daughter, or grandchild)
| Billy Sobieski claimed to be a descendantof Jan Sobieski, a former king of Poland.
|
inheritance n.
| Things passed down to you from your ancestors
| My inheritancefrom my grandmother included her favorite necklace.
|
kin n.
| Relatives
| Even though my uncle didn’t really like me, he was kind to me because we were kin.
|
legitimate adj.
| True and respectable; in the context of family, born of
a mother and father who were married to each other
| You can skip the meeting if you have a legitimatereason.
|
paternal adj.
| Relating to a father
| My mother’s parents have both died, but my paternalgrandparents are still alive.
|
sibling n.
| Brother or sister
| My siblingsand I got together to buy our parents a gift for their anniversary.
|