interfamily

1 7.4

A relationship that exists between different families of plants or animals

adjective
/ˌɪntərˈfæmɪli/

Specialized

: interfamilia

The genetic study focused on interfamily relationships to better understand hereditary traits.

Examples

The competition between species often leads to interesting adaptations in interfamily relations.
Researchers conducted a study on interfamily interactions among various species of birds.
Local politics also sometimes played a role, as did interfamily relationships.

Academic text (2011)
Frankly, Mr. Stiles, I'm not in the least bit interested in your interfamily relationships.

Believe (2000)

Synonyms

intergroup

vsinterfamily

1 4.9

Happening between two or more groups

is narrower, used for relations among classification-level categories in science

intercommunal

vsinterfamily

1 6.9

Relating to events or contacts between different communities

focuses on relations between taxonomic categories within scientific classification

intercommunity

vsinterfamily

1 5.6

Happening between different communities or groups

has identical meaning but differs in wording or stylistic use

How Taxonomic

interfamily

Specialized

1 7.4

intergeneric

Specialized

1 8.9

interspecific

Specialized

1 8.6

intraspecific

Specialized

1 8.8

Surface Forms

interfamily positive

Morphology

interfamily = family (transparent) = inter + family

The adjective is formed by adding the productive prefix 'inter-' (meaning 'between') to the noun 'family', yielding a straightforward meaning 'between families'.

Etymology

Interfamily is made from the inter- part, which means 'between' and is the same inter- you see in international, and from family, which means a group of related people or things. So interfamily means something that happens 'between families', like relationships or similarities across different family groups.