kinship

American  

[kin-ship] / ˈkɪn ʃɪp /

noun

1. the state or fact of being of kin; family relationship.

   Synonyms:

   connection

2. relationship by nature, qualities, etc.; affinity.

   Synonyms:

   bearing, connection

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kinship British  

/ ˈkɪnʃɪp /

noun

1. blood relationship

2. the state of having common characteristics or a common origin

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kinship Cultural  

1. A relation between two or more persons that is based on common ancestry (descent) or marriage (affinity).

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Related Words

See relationship.

Etymology

Origin of kinship

First recorded in 1825–35; kin + -ship

Example Sentences

In Lee Knight’s film, a chance meeting between a young Black Englishman in the process of finding himself and an elderly, white Englishwoman blossoms into an unexpected kinship — one based on Knight’s experience.

From Los Angeles Times

The master clearly had no intention to, and I was already beginning to realize he wanted no kinship among his workers, so I knew they wouldn’t, either.

From Literature

The wryly funny “Seasons” is hardly a madcap romp in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, but it does have some kinship with “To Be or Not to Be,” the Ernst Lubitsch comedy of 1942.

From The Wall Street Journal

Few Indians—other than the many who migrated there as merchants and agricultural laborers under the Raj—felt any but the loosest kinship with Burma.

From The Wall Street Journal

When the British arrived in 1788, we are told, the continent was home to “more than 250 language groups and over 500 dialects, each with its own unique culture, language, and kinship structure.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• affinity