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kindred

[kin-drid]
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noun
  1. a person's relatives collectively; kinfolk; kin.
  2. a group of persons related to another; family, tribe, or clan.
  3. relationship by birth or descent, or sometimes by marriage; kinship.
  4. natural relationship; affinity.
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adjective
  1. associated by origin, nature, qualities, etc.: kindred languages.
  2. having the same belief, attitude, or feeling: We are kindred spirits on the issue of gun control.
  3. related by birth or descent; having kinship: kindred tribes.
  4. belonging to kin or relatives: kindred blood.
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Origin of kindred

1125–75; Middle English, variant (with epenthetic d) of kinrede. See kin, -red
Related formskin·dred·less, adjectivekin·dred·ness, nounkin·dred·ship, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for kindred

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • No one of our kindred must enter the family of Pericles as a slave.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • The family affection of the Jew, his kindness to his kindred, have become proverbial.

  • With the insight of a kindred temperament he pronounced his verdict.

    The Secret Agent

    Joseph Conrad

  • If you be really of her kindred, I commend to you my brother: he is at ——, with Mr. Morton.

    Night and Morning, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

  • The plains were fatherland and mother-country, home and kindred, to Tom.

    The Village Watch-Tower

    (AKA Kate Douglas Riggs) Kate Douglas Wiggin

British Dictionary definitions for kindred

kindred

adjective
  1. having similar or common qualities, origin, etc
  2. related by blood or marriage
  3. kindred spirit a person with whom one has something in common
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noun
  1. relationship by blood
  2. similarity in character
  3. a person's relatives collectively
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Derived Formskindredness or kindredship, noun

Word Origin

C12 kinred, from kin + -red, from Old English rǣden rule, from rǣdan to rule
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 kindred

n.

c.1200, kinraden, compound of kin (q.v.) + -rede, from Old English ræden "condition, rule," related to rædan "to advise, rule" (see read (v.)). With intrusive -d- (17c.) probably for phonetic reasons (cf. thunder) but perhaps encouraged by kind (n.). As an adjective, 1520s, from the noun.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
kindred in Medicine

kindred

(kĭn′drĭd)
n.
  1. A group of related persons, such as a clan or tribe.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.