familiarityn.
/fəˌmɪlɪˈarᵻti/, U.S. /fəˌmɪliˈɛrədi/, /fəˌmɪlˈjɛrədi/ 1. † c. A circle of intimate friends or connections. Also: friends or family members considered collectively. Obsolete.
a. The state of being very friendly or intimate; friendly interaction; close friendship, intimacy (with a person). Formerly also with †to, †of. Now rare except as passing into sense 2a or sense 5a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friendship
friendshipeOE
friendredeeOE
familiarity?c1225
amoura1300
amity1437
cronyism1840
mateship1849
palship1865
philia1938
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > intimacy
privitya1250
nearnessc1485
familiarness1539
inwardness1578
greatnessa1586
privatenessa1586
entireness1599
habitude1612
gossiprya1614
strictnessc1614
mutualitiesa1616
particulara1616
intimity1617
privancy1622
privacy1638
intimacy1641
intimateness1642
familiarity1664
throng1768
closeness1851
close harmony1876
innerliness1888
insociation1893
dearness-
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 130 Þe seste reisun is. hwi ȝehabbeð þe world iflowen. familiarite. þet is tobeo priuee wið ure lauerd.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) ii. pr. i. l. 740 She [sc. Fortune] vseþ ful flatryng familarite wiþ hem þat she enforceþ to bygyle.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 63 (MED) This Julian..entended al to nigromancie and familiarite of spirites.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 210 (MED) Comande tham that thay haue not acquentaunce ne famulyarite to noone othyr kynge.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. i. xix. 108 Nocht alanerlie had he familiarite with þe saidis princes of latinis.
1588 J. Udall Demonstr. Trueth of Discipline iii. 21 The louing familiarity that shoulde be betwixt the minister and his people.
1664 in G. Miege Relation of Three Embassies (1669) 397 The old familiarity and kindness betwixt the two Kings.
1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. iv. 113 When this Familiarity is once obtained with the Evil Spirit.
1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxvii. 127 [He] resolved to introduce Wolsey to the young prince's familiarity.
1811 tr. A. de Beauchamp et al. Lives Remarkable Char. I. 95 His agreeable talents and his familiarity with the best company had ranked him among the most amiable courtiers.
1880 L. Stephen Alexander Pope iii. 61 Pope was not disinclined to pride himself upon his familiarity with the great.
1903 F. B. Sanborn Personality of Emerson 107 During their long familiarity Ellery Channing noted down a few of the remarks which Emerson made in a thousand conversations.
b. Frequently euphemistic. Sexual or romantic intimacy, esp. of an inappropriate nature. Also: an act or instance of this. Now somewhat rare. In some instances perhaps simply a contextual use of sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrespect > [noun] > disrespect by undue familiarity
familiarityc1410
particularity1591
freedoma1625
over freedom1668
over-familiarity1676
c1410 tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 163 He [sc. Edward]..his owne moder for suspecte famuliarite [L. familiaritatem] and homlynes deprived of al hire goodes.
1422 in A. T. Bannister Reg. Thome Spofford (1919) 80 (MED) Wythdrawyng all maner of famyliarites in spekyng or commyunynge, man with woman or woman with man.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1879) VII. 143 Hit happede a clerke of the courte to be of suche familiarite with the myncheon that he lay with here alle a nyȝhte.
1562 in T. Stretton Marital Litigation Court of Requests (2008) 39 In further example of her noughty livinge after the same Butler was gone, fell into famylyarytie and love with one Robert Browne.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. ii. 206 If any of them offer to have familiaritie with their wiues, they punish him most seuerely.
a1652 R. Brome Novella v. i. sig. M4, in Five New Playes (1653) For the strictnes Of our Italian censure gives a virgin, That held familiarity with any Man, By way of Marriage treaty, and then forsaken, Lost in repute.
1759 B. Martin New & Comprehensive Syst. Philol. I. 379 He was desperately in Love with his Daughter-in-law, and had Familiarity with her. Ignatius reproved that Crime.
1779 W. Alexander Hist. Women I. 11 All sexual decorum being nearly extinguished, the familiarity allowed to the men, in time, began to be productive of contempt.
1858 M. Tuckett Mariana's Diary 22 Nov. (c1975) 20 The Omnibus was pretty full..and it fell to my lot to sit very close to a tipsy man..not knowing what he would do when it got dark..I had my umbrella handy to resent any familiarity.
1891 J. S. Farmer Slang II. 144/2 Cock-teaser or cockchafer, a girl in the habit of permitting all familiarities but the last.
1913 G. Burgess Love in Hurry ii. 176 A woman can always prevent it if she cares to. Of course, if you care to go in for familiarity with a man, it's different. I prefer to wait until I'm engaged.
1986 L. Nkosi Mating Birds i. 8 There was in her expression the offer of a familiarity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friend > close or intimate friend > circle of intimate friends
familiarity1556
1556 N. Grimald tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Duties i. f. 22 To haue faithfull familiarities of frendes, louing vs, and hyelie esteeming our vertues.
1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia (new ed.) 26 A Lady of great honour, of the Kings familiarity.
1644 J. Milton Doctr. Divorce (ed. 2) 62 The leaving of parents, or other familiarity whatsoever.
1665 J. Webb Vindic. Stone-Heng Restored 129 Such frivolous reasons..as unto all judicious men, even those of his own familiarity, are ridiculous.
1710 A. Mainwaring Medley No. 13 in F. H. Ellis Swift vs. Mainwaring (1985) 123 If Princes..take into their Familiarity such trifling Bablers, or prating Knaves..what wonder if things go very ill with their People?
2.
a. Absence of ceremony; free or unrestrained interaction; friendly informality. Also: inappropriate informality, esp. between people of different classes or ranks.
ΚΠ
?c1430 (c1400) Rule St. Francis (Corpus Cambr.) in F. D. Matthew Eng. Wks. Wyclif (1880) 44 Haue þei so muche famularite or homlynesse.
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 20v Hyt behoueth a kyng to..be conuersant amongis them [sc. his people] without ouermoche famylyarite.
1602 J. Brereton Briefe Relation Discouerie Virginia 4 We espied an Indian, a yong man, of proper stature, and of a pleasing countenance; and after some familiaritie with him, we left him at the sea side.
1689 J. Collier Moral Ess. conc. Pride 25 To be stiff and formally reserved as if the Company did not deserve our Familiarity.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 29 Olivarez had been heard to Censure very severely the Duke's Familiarity..towards the Prince.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. vii. 176 To allow him an unusual degree of familiarity in conversation.
1876 M. E. Braddon Joshua Haggard's Daughter II. 102 Jim greeted his stepmother with frank familiarity.
1922 F. S. Fitzgerald Tales Jazz Age 113 The two promenaders approached and started down between Rose's table and the next, addressing friends and strangers alike with jovial familiarity.
2002 B. Hoey Her Majesty xxii. 339 While she [sc. the Queen]..would never allow any familiarity, a friendly but respectful relationship is allowed to develop once a mutual regard has been established.
b. An instance of informal or friendly behaviour; something considered appropriate only amongst close friends. Usually in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > homeliness or familiarity > instance of familiar behaviour
familiarity1537
1537 King Henry VIII Let. 24 Jan. in Camden Misc. (1992) XXXI. 63 Our subjectes there by your familiarities and good agreementes may see..an entier desire of perfect love..on either parte.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper iii. 180 Any other noble, and lawfull familiarities of intimacie, and deerenesse.
1689 J. Collier Moral Ess. conc. Pride 31 If you confound these two Relations [of Master and Servant] by lavish and indiscreet Familiarities, you destroy the respect.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker I. 10 As for familiarities, I do declare, I never once allowed him the favour of a salute.
1823 C. Lamb New Year's Eve in Elia 69 Misbecoming familiarities, inscribed upon your ordinary tombstones.
1875 Mrs. Randolph Wild Hyacinth I. 10 His awe of you would always be far too great to allow of his being guilty of a familiarity, whereas he might be jocosely disrespectful to the farmer's wife.
1920 Harper's Mag. June 112/2 His personality was commanding and he held his audience easily. Even the little boys recognized the impossibility of familiarities.
2004 Church Times 29 Oct. 32/4 Now and then riders passed, calling out, ‘Rather you than me,’ and such like familiarities.
a. The behaviour due from a servant, family member, or close friend; devotion, fidelity. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > faithfulness or trustworthiness > fidelity or loyalty > [noun]
truthOE
trotha1225
trueness?c1225
fayc1300
hold13..
lewtyc1330
faithfulnessc1400
perseverance?a1439
adherence1449
familiarityc1450
fidelity1509
devotiona1530
adherency1579
reality1616
rightness1625
lealty1861
lealness1882
c1450 tr. Secreta Secret. (Royal) 10 Largesse engendrith famulyarite, that is homelynes. ffamulyarite engendrith frendshipe.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Fiv All this he dyd to gyue vs an occasion of reuerent familiarite.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in Panoplie Epist. 116 A man ful of familiaritie and courteous acquaintance.
1684 J. Strype tr. J. Lightfoot Horæ Hebraicæ in Wks. II. 751 A Christian was not to forget [unconverted family members]... Nor was all familiarity and respect towards them to be cast away.
b. The quality befitting the head of a household; hospitality. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinship group > family > [noun] > family or household > quality expected of head
familiarityc1475
c1475 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Harl. 642) (1790) 18 Hardeknoute [i.e. King Harthacnut] may be called a fader noreshoure of familiaritie.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > [noun]
covenablenessa1382
covenabletec1384
propertya1387
abilitya1398
congruencec1430
conveniencec1430
meetnessc1449
congruencya1513
conveniency1526
congruity1530
familiarity1551
suitableness1594
familiarnessa1617
idoneity1617
connaturalnessa1628
suitability1648
adequateness1650
adaptness1657
competibilitya1660
accommodateness1660
adaptation1663
adaptedness1673
evenliness1674
condecence1678
decorousness1678
feating1682
resemblance1715
idoneousness1727
appropriateness1731
favourableness1775
adaptitude1806
adaptment1831
1551 W. Turner New Herball sig. M.vj A certayne familiaritie that is betwene their natures.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xxi. 159 There is..required in the aliment a familiarity of matter. View more context for this quotation
1784 B. Cornwell Domest. Physician i. iii. 46 Among several sorts of meat,..some are more acceptable than others, on account of a certain grateful propriety and familiarity with the stomach.
5.
a. Knowledge of a thing or person through long or close association or frequent perception by any of the senses; everyday acquaintance, habituation; an instance of this. Frequently with with.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > knowledge, what is known > familiarity > [noun]
enqueyntance1297
knowledgec1384
homeliness1402
acquaintancec1540
familiarity1574
habit1586
discourse1603
frequence1603
familiarness1612
conversationa1626
conversea1652
acquaintedness1661
intimacy1714
inquaintancea1834
hability1840
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [noun] > accustomedness > familiarity with a thing
familiarity1574
habit1586
frequence1603
familiarness1612
acquaintanceship1820
at-homeishness1842
at-home-ness1880
1574 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Job cii. 482/1 We know it [sc. wisdom] not, nother haue wee any familiaritie with it.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) v. ii. 3 When I haue held familiaritie with fresher cloathes. View more context for this quotation
1708 F. Atterbury Acquaintance with God 6 We..contract at last such an Intimacy and Familiarity with them, as makes it difficult and irksome for us to call off our Minds to a better Employment.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 157. ⁋8 Long familiarity with my subject enabled me to discourse with ease and volubility.
1811 Eclectic Rev. Oct. 905 Jewish compositors..were trained up to a familiarity with the punctuated and accentuated Hebrew.
1841 M. Elphinstone Hist. India I. iii. vii. 305 The familiarity occasioned by the daily sight of its ceremonies.
1954 ‘W. March’ Bad Seed v. 103 Then, all at once, she had a sense of weary familiarity, as though she'd been over these things before.
1977 J. White Daring to draw Near vii. 100 The Galileans..had watched him [sc. Jesus] grow up as a boy... But their familiarity with him had blinded them to all that he really was.
2011 True Loaf (Real Bread Campaign) No. 6. 12/1 Emmanuel's easy familiarity with bread becomes understandable when he tells us that he has been baking professionally for around twenty five years.
b. The quality of being known to a person, esp. from long or close association. Frequently with of.
ΚΠ
1620 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. V. N.T. ii. 491 I finde him [sc. Christ] not wondring at the frame of heauen and earth, nor at the orderly disposition of all creatures and euents; the familiarity of these things intercepts the admiration.
1699 J. Drake Antient & Mod. Stages Survey'd 56 In many places..where the People go constantly naked, the familiarity of the Objects takes away all wantonness of Imagination.
1749 T. Lally tr. J. J. Duguet Princ. Christian Relig. III. iv. i. 13 Let us..look upon the five loaves and two fishes in the hands of Jesus Christ, as the grain and seed annually increased by his providence by a miracle..much more astonishing, tho' by its familiarity it becomes less observed.
1783 H. Blair Lect. Rhetoric I. xiv. 285 The familiarity of common words, to which our ears are much accustomed, tends to degrade Style.
1831 Edinb. Rev. Sept. 153 The operations of memory are so common, that the miraculousness of the power is lost in its familiarity.
1863 J. G. Murphy Crit. Comm. Bk. Gen. (iv. 6–7) 169 This sentence has all the pithiness and familiarity of a proverb.
1946 L. E. Hewitt & R. L. Jenkins Fund. Patterns Maladjustment 31 The..syndrome pattern of overinhibited behavior is of unquestionable familiarity to clinicians and mental hygienists.
1990 G. Will Suddenly ii. xxii. 93 Germans are..moving swiftly and peacefully toward unification, thereby upsetting diplomats who prefer the familiarity of the status quo.
2013 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 28 Apr. (Features section) 44 The food is sound, comforting in its familiarity, but never dull.
6. Astrology. The circumstance or an instance of a planet's being in a particular relationship to or sharing a particular quality with another.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > planet > position of planet > aspect > [noun]
aspecta1398
conspect1398
radiation1555
configuration1559
positure1610
familiarity1679
ray1679
1679 J. Moxon Math. made Easie 115 This Platick Aspect is cast either on this side, or beyond the Body of the Planet; the first is called Application, for in that case, the Planet aspecting applies and disposes himself to have familiarity, and come to a Partile Aspect with the other.
1740 E. Weaver Brit. Telescope sig. C7v The Sun and Mercury in Conjunction in the 11th House, opposes Jupiter in the 5th; Venus near the Cusp of the 9th, is void of all manner of Familiarity at this time.
1784 E. Sibly New & Compl. Illustr. Astrol. (new ed.) ii. 852 At the same time that he beholds the ascendant with a sextil ray, and forms concordant familiarities with the other significators.
1822 J. M. Ashmand tr. Proclus Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos iv. iii. 174 The disposition of the luminaries and the respective familiarities [Gk. οἰκειώσεως], exercised by the stars attending them, are to be considered as indicative of the degree of rank or dignity.
?1860 W. J. Simmonite Prognostic Astronomer (new ed.) 123 Also ruler of the 6th in ☌ or ill familiarity to the 1st or its ruler.
1879 ‘Raphael’ Guide Astrol. II. iv. ii. 65 See the rulers of that part, observe their strength and familiarities.
1933 F. N. Robinson in Compl. Wks. Geoffrey Chaucer 973/2 With voide cours, that is, Venus passed through the sign without coming into familiarity with any planet.
2006 D. Houlding Houses (rev. ed.) ix. 110 Establishing whether a planet was in a place of familiarity was not determined through the use of houses..but through association with other planets, places, and stars which share common humoural qualities.
Phrases
familiarity breeds (also brings, creates) contempt and variants : (originally) excessive intimacy or informality leads to disrespect; (now chiefly) habituation to a thing or person leads to disdain. Cf. quot. c1405 at homeliness n. 1. [after post-classical Latin familiaritas contemptum pariat (1523 in Erasmus; compare quot. 1548).; compare also Middle French trop grant familiarité fait despit (1st half of the 14th cent.), trop grande familiarité engendre mesprisement (c1340 or earlier), trop grande familiarité engendre haine (2nd half of the 14th cent.).]
ΚΠ
1539 R. Taverner Second Bk. Garden of Wysdome sig. Aivv His speciall frendes counsailled him to beware, least his ouermuche familiaritie might breade him contempte.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. John iv. f. xxxiiii Such are the affeccions of men, that familiaritie bringeth contempt [L. familiaritas contemptum pariat].
1656 F. Osborne Polit. Reflect. Govt. Turks 31 A too prostituted Familiarity breeds contempt.
1667 J. Evelyn Publick Employm. sig. Fiv Familiarity creates contempt.
1700 J. Jones Myst. Opium Reveal'd xxv. 281 Passing over Water as despicable, because common, (for Familiarity breeds Contempt).
1760 C. Allen Polite Lady xxxvii. 244 The common saying will generally hold true, to wit, that too great familiarity breeds contempt.
1849 H. Melville Mardi I. ix. 45 Met over often and sociably, the old adage holds true, about familiarity breeding contempt.
1853 E. Leslie Behaviour Bk. iv. 47 The visiter finds that seeing a friend under all circumstances somewhat diminishes respect, and that ‘familiarity brings contempt’.
1862 ‘Scrutator’ Country Gentleman II. xiv. 233 You have heard the old saying, ‘too much familiarity creates contempt’; and if Dunkerton invites such fellows as these to his house, he must expect to have some of their sauce.
1931 E. Sackville-West Simpson i. 75 Familiarity did not breed contempt. Camberly settled deeper and deeper down into her heart.
1976 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 20 Nov. 8/6 You know what they say about familiarity breeding contempt. Mr. Bourassa was not exempt... They laughed and turned him into a caricature.
1993 A. Goodwin Dancing in Distraction Factory 80 Any current song can be heard on the radio, on our stereos, on television, and at the cinema—until familiarity breeds either sales or contempt.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.?c1225- homotopically
- homotopy
- homotransplant
- homotransplantability
- homotransplantable
- homotransplantation
- homotransplantations
- homotransplanted
- homotransplants
- homotropal
- homotropous
- homotypal
- homotype
- homotypes
- homotypic
- homotypical
- homotyposis
- homotypy
- homousian
- homousians
- homousie
- homovital
- homozoic
- homozygoses
- homozygosis