kinship
Americannoun
-
the state or fact of being of kin; family relationship.
- Synonyms:
- connection
-
relationship by nature, qualities, etc.; affinity.
- Synonyms:
- bearing, connection
noun
-
blood relationship
-
the state of having common characteristics or a common origin
Synonym Usage
See relationship.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of kinship
Explanation
Kinship is a family relationship. You might describe the wonderful, close kinship you have with your favorite cousin. Your kin is your family, so it's easy to see that kinship describes family bonds, like the kinship between members of the same Scottish clan or the kinship an uncle feels in the midst of a dozen crazy nieces and nephews. Kinship can also describe a close family-like relationship, like the kinship of the teachers at your school who have worked together for many years and who all care deeply about students and learning.
Vocabulary lists containing kinship
It's All in the Family
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Human Geography - Middle School
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "J," "K," and "L"
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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.
Delivering a toast, he said: "A blessing to the kinship between the Irish and Canadian people, may we always meet each other at the threshold and cross it together."
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
More than 2.4 million children across the U.S. are raised in grandfamilies, also known as kinship families.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
As their kinship deepened, the two seemed to forge a single identity, one that recognized wordlessly what worked in a song and what didn’t.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
“But we immediately hit it off and I felt a kinship with him.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026
He felt a secret kinship with the ocean.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
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.
