Words / C1

f-uh-mil-ee-AR-uh-tee/fəˌmɪliˈærəti/

Familiarity is knowing something well from repeated contact: familiarity with a protocol, familiarity breeds contempt. Knowledge can be bookish; experience is doing; a certificate is evidence other people can audit. Familiar (already in the dictionary) is the adjective. Do not treat knowing the corridor as a fire inspection.

Meaning

The state of knowing something well from experience.

Examples

• “Familiarity with the corridor is not a fire certificate.”
• “Knowledge is wider. Acquaintance is thinner. Intimacy is personal. A walk-through in week one is not a dated inspection. Statutory kit wants a name and a date. Walk the route; still file the certificate.”

Good to know

Knowing it well (from use). Adjective: familiar (already in the dictionary). Contrast: a certificate (auditable). Local knowledge ≠ inspection.

Near in meaning

acquaintance

New