kith
[kith]
- acquaintances, friends, neighbors, or the like; persons living in the same general locality and forming a more or less cohesive group.
- kindred.
- a group of people living in the same area and forming a culture with a common language, customs, economy, etc., usually endogamous.
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Origin of kith
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for kith
Historical Examples
My grandfather is his cousin, so he's kith and kin to me, somehow, if you can make that out.
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
I reject you, and all of your kith and kin—all the false, hollow, heartless stock.'
Barnaby RudgeCharles Dickens
But Meade is the man of their own kith and kin, and they ought to have known him.
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863Adam Gurowski
Gone was the only living man who had stood to him for kith and kin.
The Lion's SkinRafael Sabatini
I cannot serve my own kith and kin, but must seek my bread from the stranger!
Lord KilgobbinCharles Lever
kith
- one's friends and acquaintances (esp in the phrase kith and kin)
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Word Origin
Old English cӯthth, from cūth; see uncouth
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for kith
n.
Old English cyðð "kinship, relationship; kinsfolk, fellow-countrymen, neighbors; native country, home; knowledge, acquaintance, familiarity," from cuð "known," past participle of cunnan "to know" (see can (v.)). Cognate with Old High German chundida. The alliterative phrase kith and kin (late 14c.) originally meant "country and kinsmen" and is almost the word's only survival.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper