In typography, a group of typefaces created by common design characteristics. Each member may vary by weight (bold vs. regular) and width (expanded vs. condensed) and may have related italic versions.
For example, the Garamond type family comprises Garamond Light, Garamond Book, Garamond Bold, Garamond Ultra, Garamond Light Italic, Garamond Book Italic, Garamond Bold Italic, Garamond Ultra Italic, Garamond Light Condensed, Garamond Book Condensed, Garamond Bold Condensed, Garamond Ultra Condensed, Garamond Light Condensed Italic, Garamond Book Condensed Italic, Garamond Bold Condensed Italic, and Garamond Ultra Condensed Italic.
On the computer, variants or "family members" may be files purchased and/or installed separately. That is, when Garamond Regular is installed on a particular computer, it does not follow that Garamond Ultra Condensed would also have been installed. Fonts with "Pro" in the typeface name (like Myriad Pro) are more likely to contain multiple variants purchased and installed together.