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kin
1[ kin ]
noun
- a person's relatives collectively; kinfolk.
- family relationship or kinship.
- a group of persons descended from a common ancestor or constituting a people, clan, tribe, or family.
- a relative or kinsman.
- someone or something of the same or similar kind:
philosophy and its kin, theology.
-kin
2- a diminutive suffix of nouns:
lambkin.
-kin
1suffix forming nouns
- small
lambkin
kin
2/ kɪn /
noun
- a person's relatives collectively; kindred
- a class or group with similar characteristics
- See next of kin
adjective
- postpositive related by blood
- a less common word for akin
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Other Words From
- kinless adjective
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Word History and Origins
Origin of kin1
Origin of kin2
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Word History and Origins
Origin of kin1
Origin of kin2
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Idioms and Phrases
Although their surnames are identical they are not of kin.
More idioms and phrases containing kin
see kith and kin .Discover More
Example Sentences
Earlier that day, officials say, Stone went on a bloody rampage killing six of his kin and wreaking havoc in three small towns.
Here it is, in the faces of the victims, in the stories of bravery, in the souls and memory of the survivors, the next of kin.
Outstripping the ironieteken, the temherte slaq, and their kin by far is the most remarked and reviled irony mark to date.
Late Monday night the FBI released the identities of seven of the deceased whose next of kin had been notified.
I mean, temperamentally I was different, and in addition there were three years between me and my next older kin.
I don't want ter see ennybody put upon, nor noways sufferin', ef so be's I kin help; but thet ain't ennythin' stronary, ez I know.
Probably he was some kin to old Granny Harris, who had distant connections in the North, some one suggested.
He poked his head in at an open door, and called, amiably, "Kin anybody tell me where to find Mr. Castle?"
We kin git the papers to start a holler and have folks demandin' action of their representatives, and sich like.
You can't go enterin' my house and removin' things without my permission, I kin tell you.
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Words That Use -kin
What does -kin mean?
The suffix –kin is used as a diminutive. In other words, it denotes that something is “little,” either literally or figuratively. It is very occasionally used in a variety of informal and everyday terms.
The form –kin comes from Middle English. Similar diminutives in English include –en (as in kitten) and –y (as in baby). Check out our entries for both suffixes to learn how frequently they appear.
Examples of -kin
One example of a term that features the suffix -kin as a diminutive is ladykin, a familiar term meaning “a little lady.”
The beginning of the word, lady-, means roughly “woman.” As we have seen, the suffix –kin means “little.” Ladykin literally means “little woman.”
What are some words that use the combining form –kin?
- babykin
- boomkin (using the equivalent form of –kin in Dutch)
- catkin (using the equivalent form of –kin in Dutch)
- firkin (using the equivalent form of –kin in Middle English)
- lambkin
- manikin (using the equivalent form of –kin in Dutch)
- princekin
What are some other forms that –kin may be commonly confused with?
- -kind
- -kinesis
- -skin
Not every word that ends with the exact letters –kin, such as otherkin, is necessarily using the combining form –kin to denote “little.” Learn why otherkin means “someone who identifies as a non-human species or mythological entity” at our entry for the word.
Break it down!
Given the meaning of -kin, what does babykin mean?
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.
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