family trees

noun

plural of family tree
as in lineages
the line of ancestors from whom a person is descended his family tree includes writers, musical composers, and other notables in the arts

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of family trees For centuries, genealogists have used paper records to build family trees. — Chris Boyette, CNN Money, 25 July 2026 The family trees here have a lot of branches and some of them are a bit rotten. — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 16 July 2026 The case was built by forensic genetic genealogy, which is the same science that traced DNA family trees to find the Golden State Killer in California and help solve the Yogurt Shop Murders in Austin, Texas. — Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 16 July 2026 The samples helped people discover entirely new family trees and could reveal consequential health information, such as a genetic predisposition to cancer. — Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2026 The Oscar-winning actress and former Vogue editor-in-chief are related, according to an analysis of family trees and public records done by DNA testing company Ancestry. — Melina Khan, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026 Unfortunately, those answers often appear directly in public family trees. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 18 Mar. 2026 As family trees expand, more stakeholders enter the conversation, and priorities can diverge. — Belinda G. Schwartz, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2026 Virtually every previous Scream film has revealed whole new branches of the various characters’ family trees, and this one is no exception. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 27 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for family trees
  1. lineages
  2. ancestries
  3. pedigrees
  4. genealogies
  5. families
  6. origins
Noun
  • Rather than reflecting genuinely absent enzymes, these gaps could simply mirror methodological limitations in the phylogenetic reconstruction that prevented the identification of all the original ancient enzymes in bacterial and archaean lineages.
    — Philip Ball, Scientific American, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The fossil indicates that lineages closely related to the Euparkeriidae were also present in South America, highlighting the continent’s role in the early diversification of the relatives of dinosaurs and crocodiles.
    — The Conversation, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of lineages
Noun
  • This technique overcomes limitations of older methods like genotyping arrays, which were often biased towards European ancestries and less accurate.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • In a small number of cases, similar ancestries were grouped together.
    — Albert Sun, New York Times, 2 July 2026
Definition of ancestries
Noun
  • Lower-budget genre films—Backrooms, Obsession and Iron Lung, many driven by creators with YouTube and small-screen pedigrees—have broken through with younger viewers.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 30 July 2026
  • The son of a major leaguer turned long-time coach and brother of the Yankees’ top prospect, Jacob has perhaps one of the best pedigrees in this draft class.
    — Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 11 July 2026
Definition of pedigrees
Noun
  • The seal texts often introduced the owners with their names, genealogies, gender, professions and hometowns.
    — Serdar Yalçin, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Transcripts, grammars, vocabularies, dictionaries, glyph studies, botanical studies, commentaries, articles, editions of codices, correspondence, maps, charts, drawings, photographs, Maya Society materials, genealogies of Maya families, and Mayan glyphs on moveable type.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 12 Sep. 2025
Definition of genealogies
Noun
  • Postpartum Support International provides free support to new mothers and families impacted by maternal mental health conditions.
    — Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026
  • For families Villa Dubrovnik is surprisingly effortless for families, with spacious family suites featuring interconnecting rooms and balcony hot tubs.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of families
Noun
  • However, this represented only one of several plausible geographic origins of her lineage, according to the researchers.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Your guide will teach you about the origins of Prohibition and tell stories of infamous bootleggers.
    — Condé Nast Traveler, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of origins

Browse Nearby Words

family tree
family trees
family way
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Cite this Entry

“Family trees.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/family%20trees. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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