Kinship
/ˈkɪn.ʃɪp/noun
The state of being related by blood or family ties.
Did you know?Kinship comes from Old English cynn, meaning both “family” and “race/kind,” showing that in early Germanic thought, being related was literally about belonging to the same kind of being.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵenh₁-
“to beget, give birth, produce”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*kunją
“family, race, people”
Old English
OE
cynn
“family, kin, race, kind”
Old English
OE
-scipe
“state, condition, office, quality”
Middle English
ME
kinship
“state of being kin; family relationship”
Modern English
English
kinship
“the state of being related by blood or family ties”