familiarity

familiarity
/feuh mil'ee ar"i tee, -mil yar"-/, n., pl. familiarities.
1. thorough knowledge or mastery of a thing, subject, etc.
2. the state of being familiar; friendly relationship; close acquaintance; intimacy.
3. an absence of ceremony and formality; informality.
4. freedom of behavior justified only by the closest relationship; undue intimacy.
5. Often, familiarities. an instance of such freedom, as in action or speech.
6. a sexual liberty or impropriety.
[1350-1400; ME familiarite ( < AF) < L familiaritas intimacy. See FAMILIAR, -ITY]
Syn. 3. unconstraint. 4. liberty, freedom, license.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Familiarity — Fa*mil iar i*ty, n.; pl. {Familiarities}. [OE. familarite, F. familiarit[ e]fr. L. faniliaritas. See {Familiar}.] 1. The state of being familiar; intimate and frequent converse, or association; unconstrained intercourse; freedom from ceremony and …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • familiarity — [n1] friendliness acquaintance, acquaintanceship, boldness, closeness, ease, fellowship, forwardness, freedom, freshness, friendship, informality, intimacy, liberty, naturalness, openness, presumption, sociability, unceremoniousness; concept 388… …   New thesaurus

  • familiarity — index cognition, common knowledge, comprehension, consortium (marriage companionship), experience (background), informality, inf …   Law dictionary

  • familiarity — c.1200, from O.Fr. familiarite and directly from L. familiaritatem (nom. familiaritas) intimacy, friendship, from familiaris friendly, intimate (see FAMILIAR (Cf. familiar)). Meaning undue intimacy is from late 14c. That of close acquaintance is… …   Etymology dictionary

  • familiarity — [fə mil΄ē er′ə tē, fə mil΄ēar′ə tē] n. pl. familiarities [ME familiarite < OFr < L familiaritas < familiaris: see FAMILIAR] 1. close association; intimacy 2. free and intimate behavior; absence of formality and ceremony 3. intimacy that… …   English World dictionary

  • familiarity — noun 1 knowing sb/sth well ADJECTIVE ▪ greater, intimate ▪ basic, passing (esp. AmE) VERB + FAMILIARITY ▪ have ▪ …   Collocations dictionary

  • familiarity — UK [fəˌmɪlɪˈærətɪ] / US [fəˌmɪlɪˈerətɪ] noun Word forms familiarity : singular familiarity plural familiarities 1) [singular/uncountable] knowledge of something because you have learnt about it or experienced it before familiarity with:… …   English dictionary

  • familiarity — fa|mil|i|ar|i|ty [fəˌmıliˈærıti] n [U] 1.) a good knowledge of a particular subject or place familiarity with ▪ In fact his familiarity with the Bronx was pretty limited. 2.) the quality of being well known to you ▪ I miss the familiarity of home …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • familiarity — n. 1) thorough familiarity 2) familiarity with * * * [fəˌmɪlɪ ærɪtɪ] thorough familiarity familiarity with …   Combinatory dictionary

  • familiarity — fa|mil|iar|i|ty [ fə,mılı erəti ] noun 1. ) singular or uncount knowledge of something because you have learned about it or experienced it before: familiarity with: Applicants should demonstrate a familiarity with housing law. 2. ) count or… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • familiarity — [[t]fəmɪliæ̱rɪti[/t]] PHRASE: V inflects Familiarity is used especially in the expression familiarity breeds contempt to say that if you know a person or situation very well, you can easily lose respect for that person or become careless in that… …   English dictionary

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