Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “kin” come from?

Kin comes from Middle English kyn, from Old English cynn, from Proto-Germanic kunją, from Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁-, meaning to beget or produce.

kin (English): Race; family; breed; kind; Persons of the same...

Definitions

  1. Race; family; breed; kind; Persons of the same...

Ancestry of “kin”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishfictionkin—
2EnglishfictionLiterary type using invented or imaginative...
3Middle Englishficcioun—
4Old Frenchficciondissimulation, ruse, invention
5Latinfictiofashioning, forming, formation; fiction
6Latin-tiō—
7Latindissertātiō—
8Latindissertusarranged, disposed; explained
9Latindissereresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
10Latindis-asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;...
11Latincalceusshoe
12Latincalxlimestone; chalk; the finish line
13Ancient Greekχάλιξsmall stone, pebble; gravel, rubble

Words derived from “kin”

  • kinship
  • kinsfolk
  • kinfolk
  • nonkin
  • kinless
  • kinsperson
  • nonkinship
  • kinlessness
  • kinslayer
  • kinterm
  • kintype
  • kinomics
  • Kinism
  • kinhood
  • Kinist
  • dunnekin
  • dragonkin
Every word from Ancient Greek χάλιξ →