Something Akin to Kinship
Mike from Glen Arbor,
Michigan, asked if the words kin and akin are connected. Indeed, they are. They
come from a cluster of Germanic, Scandinavian, and Dutch words that meant to
produce, to engender, to beget. In turn, those words are related to the Greek γένος
(genos), which would show up in a word like
generate, and the Latin genus.
Kin means family or blood relations. It was once
used in the stock phrase kith and kin, where kith meant one’s familiar country or countrymen. Akin
originally meant belonging to the same family. Then it expanded to mean
connected by resemblance.
Related words include
·
kindred:
related by blood, and figuratively, connected by resemblance (kindred spirits)
·
kinship:
consanguinity, and figuratively, sharing similar qualities or character
·
kinsman:
a male relative
·
kinswoman:
a female relative
Listen to Mike’s program in real
time every Tuesday morning, 9:10 - 10:00 a.m. EST, by going to wtcmradio.com
and clicking on Listen Now. You’ll
also find about a month’s worth of podcasts there under The Ron Jolly Show.
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