Kinship

Affinal Kin: Relatives created through marriage (in-laws).
Consanguineal Kin: Relatives linked by blood or common biology.
Fictive Kin: Individuals treated as family members despite having no biological or legal marriage ties (e.g., close family friends, godparents).
Bilateral Kinship: A system tracing descent equally through both the mother’s and father’s sides of the family.
Unilineal Descent: Tracing descent through only one parental lineage (either mother’s or father’s side, but not both).
Matrilineal Descent: Tracing descent and inheritance exclusively through the female line (mother's lineage).
Patrilineal Descent: Tracing descent and inheritance exclusively through the male line (father's lineage).
Ambilineal Descent: A system where individuals or families choose to trace descent through either the mother’s or father’s line, depending on circumstance or preference.

Matrilocal Residence: A post-marital residence pattern where a newly married couple lives with or near the bride’s family.
Patrilocal Residence: A post-marital residence pattern where a newly married couple lives with or near the groom’s family.
Avunculocal Residence: A post-marital residence pattern where a newly married couple lives with or near the groom’s maternal uncle (mother's brother).
Neolocal Residence: A post-marital residence pattern where a newly married couple establishes an independent home away from both sets of parents.

Brideservice: Work performed by a groom for his bride’s family before or after marriage as a form of compensation for their daughter.
Bridewealth: Goods, money, or livestock given by the groom or his family to the bride’s family to legitimize the marriage and validate rights to children.
Dowry: Goods or money transferred from the bride’s family to the new couple or the groom's family upon marriage.

Exogamy: A rule requiring individuals to marry outside of their specific social group, clan, or community.
Endogamy: A rule requiring individuals to marry within a specific social group, caste, religion, or community.
Monogamy: A marriage form uniting only two partners at one time.
Serial Monogamy: A practice where an individual enters a series of monogamous marriages or long-term partnerships over their lifetime (one after another).
Polygamy: The practice of having more than one spouse at the same time.
Polygyny: A form of polygamy where one husband is married to multiple wives simultaneously.
Polyandry: A form of polygamy where one wife is married to multiple husbands simultaneously.

Immediate Family: The smallest family unit, typically consisting of parents and their children.
"Nuclear" Family: A family unit composed of two parents and their immediate biological or adopted children living together in one household.
Cross Cousins: Cousins related through parents of opposite sexes (your mother's brother's children OR your father's sister's children).
Parallel Cousins: Cousins related through parents of the same sex (your mother's sister's children OR your father's brother's children).
Clans: A named lineage or social group whose members claim descent from a common, often mythological or distant ancestor.
Ghost Marriage: A legal marriage custom where a living person marries a deceased individual to keep family property, lineage, or name alive.
Necrogamy: Another term for ghost marriage or marrying a deceased person.