▪ I. kith, n.
(kɪθ)
Forms: 1 cyþþo, cyþ(þ, 2 ceþ, cheþ, 3–4 cuþþe, (4 cuþþhe, kuþþe, cuth), 4 keþþe, kiþþe, kiþ, kyþ, (kyþthe, kitth, -e, kiyth, kuith, kuythe, kygth, kid, kidh), 4–5 kithe, kythe, (kyght, -e, 5 kyghth, kide), 4–6 kyth, 4– kith. β. 6–7 kiffe, 6–8 kiff.
[OE. c{yacu}ðð, c{yacu}ð, earlier c{yacu}ððu = OHG. chundida:—OTeut. *kunþiþā, abstr. n. from *kunþ- known, OE. c{uacu}ð, couth. In ME. the u(ü) forms were s.w., the e forms Kentish.]
† 1. Knowledge, acquaintance with something; knowledge communicated, information. Obs.
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xxii[i.], Of minre sylfre cyþþe. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 396 Þe nane cyððe to Gode næfdon. a 1400 Sir Perc. 1281 So kyndly takes he that kyth, That up he rose and went hym wyth. c 1450 Rel. Ant. I. 308 Spare noȝth an hauke yf he lye in thy kyth. |
† 2. Knowledge how to behave; rules of etiquette. Obs.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 331 Whanne þou komest to kourt among þe kete lordes, & knowest alle þe kuþþes þat to kourt langes. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 320 The king cumly in kith, couerit with croune. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 32 (Jam.) But nature, thy feature, An' mien o' various kythe. |
† 3. The country or place that is known or familiar; one's native land, home; hence gen. country, region, quarter. Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxvii. §4 Þæt hi on heora aᵹenre cyþþe ealne weᵹ mæᵹen. Ibid. xxxiii. §4 Þæs wæteres aᵹnu cyþ is on eorþan. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 231 Þa sende se king his ærndraches of fif ceðen to alle his underþeoden. Ibid. 235 Isent of fif cheðen. c 1205 Lay. 2435 Guendoleine he sende into hire fader londe,..into hire cuððe. a 1300 Cursor M. 5452 (Cott.) Drightin þan was our eldres wit, He mon yow bring in to your kyth [Gött. kid]. Ibid. 9074 (Cott.) Far wil i fle In vncuth kygth [Fairf. kiþ] fra þis cuntre. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 197 He hedde beo lord of þat lond..And eke kyng of þat cuþþe. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3997 Þe kyng..kayres furthe with þe cors in kyghte þare he lenges. c 1440 York Myst. xviii. 91 Us most flee Owte of oure kyth where we are knowyn. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. iii. 59 Sers and inquyr..of this kith quhair standis the cheif citee. |
† 4. The persons who are known or familiar, taken collectively; one's friends, fellow-countrymen, or neighbours; acquaintance; in later use sometimes confused with kin: see 5. Obs. or arch. exc. as in 5.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke ii. 44 Hiᵹ..hine sohton betux his maᵹas & his cuðan [Lindisf. cuðo, Rushw. cyððo]. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 108 Thai him soht Imang thair kith. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8443 Þe men of kuythe þat he wel knewe, Þat he wyste were gode and trewe. c 1615 W. Browne Yng. Willie & Old Wernock (R.), My near kith. 1825 Brockett, Kith, acquaintance... Not obsolete as stated in Todd's John. 1848 Lytton Harold iii. iii, High persons of his own kith. |
5. Phr. kith and kin: orig. Country and kinsfolk (see 3); in later use, Acquaintance and kinsfolk, one's friends and relatives; in mod. use often taken merely as a pleonastic phrase for Kinsfolk, relatives, family connexions. (Formerly sometimes corrupted to kiff and kin.)
| α 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 497 How riȝtwis men..Fer fro kitth and fro kynne yuel yclothed ȝeden. a 1400 Octouian 1822 I-dryue Ywas,..From ken and kyghth. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 23 Of saynt cuthbert kyth and kynne. 1570 Levins Manip. 150/36 Kith or kin, cognatio. 1794 Burns ‘My Lady's gown’ ii, My lady's white, my lady's red, And kith and kin o' Cassillis' blude. 1824 Byron Juan xv. xxxi, Daughters, brothers, sisters, kith or kin. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton viii, If any extra bit of comfort or kindness is wanted for their own kith and kin. |
| β 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 22 For kiffe nor for kin. 1584 3 Ladies Lond. i. in Hazl. Dodsley VI. 250 They forsake..prince, country, religion, kiff and kin. 1620 Middleton Chaste Maid iv. i. 86 A mayd that's neither kiffe nor kin to me. 1719 D'Urfey Pills IV. 151 To visit Kiff and Kin. |
| fig. 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. i. 888 Mark the natural kiths and kins Of circumstance and office. 1861 Max Müller Sci. Lang. iv. 156 That Greek and Latin were of the same kith and kin as the language of the black inhabitants of India. |
▪ II. † kith, v. Obs.
Forms: 3 cuððen, (Orm.) kiþþenn, 4 kuþþe(n, keþþe.
[Early ME. cuððen (ü), repr. an OE. *c{yacu}ððan, f. c{yacu}ð(ð, kith n.]
trans. To make friendly or familiar; refl. to become acquainted, or associate oneself (with); to greet each other as friends or familiar acquaintances.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 45 Wille we..mid swiche weldede cuððen us wið alre kingene king. c 1200 Ormin 16979 Þatt he wiþþ Crist i sunnderrrun Himm awihht haffde kiþþedd. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1011 Þan eiþer hent oþer hastely in armes, And wiþ kene kosses kuþþed hem to-gidere. Ibid. 4964 Whan þei samen mette, With clipping and kissing to keþþe hem to-gadere. |