kinfolk, kinsfolk, phratry, family line, sept, folk, family - people descended from a common ancestor; "his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower"

Bourbon dynasty, Bourbon - a European royal line that ruled in France (from 1589-1793) and Spain and Naples and Sicily

Capetian dynasty - a Frankish dynasty founded by Hugh Capet that ruled from 987 to 1328

Carlovingian dynasty, Carolingian dynasty - a Frankish dynasty founded by Charlemagne's father that ruled from 751 to 987

Flavian dynasty - a dynasty of Roman emperors from 69 to 96 including Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian

Han, Han dynasty - imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time) from 206 BC to 221 and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy

Hanoverian line, House of Hanover, Hanover - the English royal house that reigned from 1714 to 1901 (from George I to Victoria)

Habsburg, Hapsburg - a royal German family that provided rulers for several European states and wore the crown of the Holy Roman Empire from 1440 to 1806

Hohenzollern - a German noble family that ruled Brandenburg and Prussia

House of Lancaster, Lancastrian line, Lancaster - the English royal house that reigned from 1399 to 1461; its emblem was a red rose

Liao, Liao dynasty - the dynasty that ruled much of Manchuria and northeastern China from 947 to 1125

Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian - a Frankish dynasty founded by Clovis I that reigned in Gaul and Germany from about 500 to 750

Ming, Ming dynasty - the imperial dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644

Ottoman dynasty, Ottoman - the Turkish dynasty that ruled the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century to its dissolution after World War I

Plantagenet, Plantagenet line - the family name of a line of English kings that reigned from 1154 to 1485

Ptolemaic dynasty, Ptolemy - an ancient dynasty of Macedonian kings who ruled Egypt from 323 BC to 30 BC; founded by Ptolemy I and ended with Cleopatra

Ch'ing, Ch'ing dynasty, Manchu dynasty, Qing, Qing dynasty, Manchu - the last imperial dynasty of China (from 1644 to 1912) which was overthrown by revolutionaries; during the Qing dynasty China was ruled by the Manchu

Romanoff, Romanov - the Russian imperial line that ruled from 1613 to 1917

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha - the name of the royal family that ruled Great Britain from 1901-1917; the name was changed to Windsor in 1917 in response to anti-German feelings in World War I

Seljuk - any one of the Turkish dynasties that ruled Asia Minor from the 11th to the 13th centuries; they successfully invaded Byzantium and defended the Holy Land against Crusaders

Shang, Shang dynasty - the imperial dynasty ruling China from about the 18th to the 12th centuries BC

Stuart - the royal family that ruled Scotland from 1371-1603 and ruled England and Scotland from 1603 to 1649 and again from 1660 to 1714

Song dynasty, Sung, Sung dynasty, Song - the imperial dynasty of China from 960 to 1279; noted for art and literature and philosophy

Tang dynasty, Tang - the imperial dynasty of China from 618 to 907

House of Tudor, Tudor - an English dynasty descended from Henry Tudor; Tudor monarchs ruled from Henry VII to Elizabeth I (from 1485 to 1603)

Omayyad, Ommiad, Umayyad - the first dynasty of Arab caliphs whose capital was Damascus

Valois - French royal house from 1328 to 1589

Wei, Wei dynasty - any of several imperial dynasties of China ruling from 220 to 265 and from 386 to 556

House of Windsor, Windsor - the British royal family since 1917

House of York, York - the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose

Mongol dynasty, Yuan dynasty, Yuan - the imperial dynasty of China from 1279 to 1368

Chou, Chou dynasty, Chow, Chow dynasty, Zhou, Zhou dynasty - the imperial dynasty of China from 1122 to 221 BC; notable for the rise of Confucianism and Taoism