kinfolk
Americanplural noun
plural noun
Etymology
Origin of kinfolk
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English kinnes-folk; see origin at kin, folk
Explanation
Your kinfolk are the people in your family. Even very distant cousins you've never met can be described as your kinfolk. When anthropologists use the term kinfolk, they mean people who are related by blood and share a common ancestor. You can use the word in a much wider way, though, to include people related by marriage and adoption, as well as friends who are so close you consider them part of your family. Kinfolk combines the Old English roots cynn, or "family," and folc, "people."
Vocabulary lists containing kinfolk
The Classical Period, c. 600 BCE to c. 600 CE
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2.1: Classical Empires in East Asia (Sources 1–8)
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The Only Black Girls in Town
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The best example of this is the famous "Key & Peele" skit of President Obama reserving dap for skin folk and kinfolk alike while extending the standard handshake for white folks.
From Salon • Feb. 19, 2024
In many ways, the relationship between these kinfolk communities is mutually beneficial and harmonious.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2022
And it all started in those early years with her inclination to view trees as kinfolk.
From New York Times • Jul. 30, 2021
He thinks a Black cartoonist might also be uniquely critical and uncowed by the diversity of the Biden administration: “There’s an old saying in Black culture: ‘All skinfolk ain’t kinfolk.’
From Washington Post • Feb. 16, 2021
She didn’t look fond of the idea of letting her kinfolk fight without her, but she didn’t argue, either.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
