kin

[kin]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR kin ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person's relatives collectively; kinfolk.

family relationship or kinship.

a group of persons descended from a common ancestor or constituting a people, clan, tribe, or family.

a relative or kinsman.

someone or something of the same or similar kind: philosophy and its kin, theology.

adjective

of the same family; related; akin.

of the same kind or nature; having affinity.

Idioms

of kin, of the same family; related; akin: Although their surnames are identical they are not of kin.

Origin of kin

before 900; Middle English; Old English cyn; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German kunni, Old Norse kyn, Gothic kuni; akin to Latin genus, Greek génos, Sanskrit jánas. See gender¹.

Related formskin·less, adjective

Can be confusedken kinkin kith

-kin

a diminutive suffix of nouns: lambkin.

Origin of -kin

Middle English < Middle Dutch, Middle Low German -ken; cognate with German -chen

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for kin

tribe, family, people, house, sibling, relation, folk, member, extraction, affinity, stock, lineage, relationship, kindred, blood, cousin, clan, consanguinity, connection, race

Examples from the Web for kin

Contemporary Examples of kin

Earlier that day, officials say, Stone went on a bloody rampage killing six of his kin and wreaking havoc in three small towns.
Hunt for Iraq Vet After Killing Spree
M.L. Nestel
December 16, 2014
Here it is, in the faces of the victims, in the stories of bravery, in the souls and memory of the survivors, the next of kin.
Dick Cheney vs. ‘Unbroken’
Mike Barnicle
December 15, 2014
Outstripping the ironieteken, the temherte slaq, and their kin by far is the most remarked and reviled irony mark to date.
The Rise and Fall of the Infamous SarcMark
Keith Houston
September 24, 2013
Late Monday night the FBI released the identities of seven of the deceased whose next of kin had been notified.
Investigators Search for Clues to What Motivated Navy Yard Shooter Aaron Alexis
Ben Jacobs, Miranda Green
September 17, 2013
In exchange, the community and government recognize the pair as next of kin and give them the tools they need to do their duty.
Immigration Reform and the GOP’s Anti-Gay Suicide Mission
Jonathan Rauch
May 2, 2013

Historical Examples of kin

If these guests were kin of his, they were welcome for his sake.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
It may be that, as some small return, my father or his kin may have power to advance your interest.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
Theyclaimed to be kin to us, and they cared nothing for Man even when they smelled him.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin
S' fur 's the pitcher goes, it's about as good 's kin be did with paint, I guess.
Chip, of the Flying U
B. M. Bower
"Does beat all how she kin do it," thought Wade, listlessly.
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius

British Dictionary definitions for kin

kin

noun

a person's relatives collectively; kindred

a class or group with similar characteristics

See next of kin

adjective

(postpositive) related by blood

a less common word for akin

Word Origin for kin

Old English cyn; related to Old Norse kyn family, Old High German kind child, Latin genus kind

-kin

suffix forming nouns

smalllambkin

Word Origin for -kin

from Middle Dutch, of West Germanic origin; compare German -chen

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for kin

c.1200, from Old English cynn "family; race; kind, sort, rank; nature; gender, sex," from Proto-Germanic *kunjam "family" (cf. Old Frisian kenn, Old Saxon kunni, Old Norse kyn, Old High German chunni "kin, race;" Danish and Swedish kön, Middle Dutch, Dutch kunne "sex, gender;" Gothic kuni "family, race," Old Norse kundr "son," German Kind "child"), from PIE *gen(e)- "to produce" (see genus).

-kin

diminutive suffix, first attested late 12c. in proper names adopted from Flanders and Holland, probably from Middle Dutch -kin, properly a double-diminutive, from -k + -in. Equivalent to German -chen. Also borrowed in Old French as -quin, where it usually has a bad sense.

This suffix, which is almost barren in French, has been more largely developed in the Picard patois, which uses it for new forms, such as verquin, a shabby little glass (verre); painequin, a bad little loaf (pain); Pierrequin poor little Pierre, &c. ["An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language," transl. G.W. Kitchin, Oxford, 1878]

Used in later Middle English with common nouns. In some words it is directly from Dutch or Flemish.

Idioms and Phrases with kin

kin

see kith and kin.