kindred, n. and a.
(ˈkɪndrɪd)
Forms: α. 2 cunredden, 2–3 kun-, cunn-, 3–5 kyn-, kin-, -reden(e, -redin, -yn, -raden, -radin, 5 -redynge, -radone, -oun; 3 kindreden. β. 3 cun-, kun-, 3–6 kyn-, 3–7 kin-, 4–5 ken-, 4–6 kynne-, kinne-, 5–7 kine-, 3–5 -rede, 3–7 -red, (4 -rade, 6 -raid, -reid); 4, 6– kindred, (6 kyndrede, 6 -reade, 7 kindered). γ. 5–6 (Sc.) kyn-, kinrent.
[Early ME. f. kin1 + -rēden, -red, OE. rǽden, condition, reckoning. The occasional early ME. variant kindred(en may have been a parallel formation on kynde, kind n.; but the modern kindred, which first became common in the 17th c., appears to have arisen through phonetic development of d between n and r, as in thunder, Hendry, etc.]
A. n.
1. a. The being of kin; relationship by blood or descent (occasionally, but incorrectly, by marriage); kinship.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 83 Hie giuen here elmesse noht for godes luue, ac for neheboreden oðer for kinraden. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9552 Þe kunrede iproued was, so þat king lowis þere & elianore is quene vor kunrede departed were. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 29 Þese tweyne were y-ioyned to gidres boþe by kynrede and affinite. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xi. 258 Of kyn ne of kynredene a-counteþ men bote lytel. 1483 Cath. Angl. 203/2 A kynredynge cognacio, consanguenitas, geneologia [etc.]. 1587 Golding De Mornay xvi. 253 The kinred that is betweene all men, deriued from the father of their Soules, moueth vs very little, but the vile kinred of the flesh moueth vs very much. 1632 Heywood 1st Pt. Iron Age v. i. Wks. 1874 III. 339 Wee plead not kinred Or neare propinquity. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. iii. 451 Tho' we're all as near of Kindred As th' outward man is to the Inward. 1776 Paine Com. Sense (1791) 49 Every day wears out the little remains of kindred between us and them. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. §7. 148 A secret match with..the King's sister..raised him to kindred with the throne. |
b. fig. Affinity in respect of qualities; resemblance, agreement.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 60 b, The smoke, for the Kinred it hath with the Onyon. 1638 Rouse Heav. Univ. iv. (1702) 29 Yet have we other fruits that by some kindred may seem to counterfeit som Lineaments of that taste. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxiv, I..know Thy likeness to the wise below, Thy kindred with the great of old. |
2. a. A group or body of persons related to each other by blood; a family, clan, tribe, etc.;
= kin1 1,
kind n. 11. Now
rare.
† the human kindred, the human race (
obs.).
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 141 Þa twelf kunreden sculden þermide heore þurst kelen. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 4127 Ðo twelue kinderedes..He gaf bliscing. 13.. K. Alis. 6423 Unlossom is that kynrede. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxiv. 30 Alle kynredis [gloss or lynagis], of erthe schulen weyle. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. cxcvii. 175 One kynred had no more pite of that other than an hungary wolfe hath of a shepe. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1065 To dye for the humaine kyndred. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. To Rdr., A patcht up Tongue from Lands and Kinreds round about. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. iii. 57 The little territory of Dithmarschen was colonised by two kindreds from Friesland and two from Saxony. |
† b. The family, offspring, or descendants
of a specified ancestor;
= kin1 1 b,
kind n. 11 b.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 6624 Als was þe kinred o sir leui. c 1340 Ibid. 10730 (Gött.) Þe kin of dauid kindred all. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 9 Kynewolf, of the kynred of Adelardes blode. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) vi. 22 He was successour of Macomete and of his kynredyn. 1513 Douglas æneis i. v. 39 Bot we thi bluide, thy kinrent and afspryng..Hes lossit our schippis. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 323 Vnder the title of Circumcision and the kinred of Abraham. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 208 To signifie that they were of the posterity and kinred of their Prophet Aaly. |
† c. A generation;
= kin1 1 c,
kind n. 11 c.
Obs.| a 1340 Hampole Psalter ix. 28, I sall noght be stirid fra getynge in getynge [v.r. kynreden into kynreden]. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 405 Þis kynrede shal not passen til alle þingis be doon. 1450 Paston Lett. I. 122 That youre blood may..from kynrede to kynrede multeplye. 1450–1530 Myrr. Ladye 160 Hys mercy ys from kynred in to kynredes. |
† d. Descent, pedigree;
= kin1 1 d,
kind n. 11 d.
kindred's tree, a genealogical tree.
Obs.| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 289 Þe genelegies of þe Hebrewes and rekenynge of kynrede [v.r. kynrad] of oþer naciouns were i-write in bookes. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. iii. 543 So far the branches of his fruitfull Bed Past all the names of Kinreds-Tree did spread. |
† 3. Race, family, or stock, from which one springs;
= kin1 2,
kind n. 12.
Obs.| c 1250 Meid Maregrete x, Yef ho is boren of cunnraden free. c 1300 St. Margarete 62 Tel me of wham þu ert icome, and of what cunrede. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 979 Þat ȝe ben of noble and heigh kynrede. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 279 in Babees Bk. 307 And he be comen of gret kynraden, Go no be-fore þawgh þou be beden. 1513 Douglas æneis v. v. 75 Of Creit, as to hir kynrent, born was sche. |
4. a. The family, clan, etc. of which one is a member. Usually with possessive
pron.: One's kinsfolk or relatives, collectively;
= kin1 3.
of one's kindred: related to one.
| a 1225 Juliana 61 Þu leddest þurh moyses..þurh þe reade sea al his cunredden. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1675 Alle heo beoth of mine kunrede. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 161 For hatreden of hir kynrede. c 1450 Merlin 79 The kynge sente to alle the Dukes kenrede..that thei sholde come to hym. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 196 On our kynrent, deyr God, quhen will thou rew? 1538 Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 77 An Irishman of my Lord Garrattes kynnered. 1653 Holcroft Procopius, Goth. Wars iii. 94 Sending others, and one of his own Kinred with them. 1725 Pope Odyss. xv. 20 Her kindred's wishes, and her sire's commands. 1870 F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 61 In the grassy spot where Grace Darling sleeps with her kindred. |
† b. Applied to one person: A kinsman or kinswoman;
= kin1 3 c.
Obs.| c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 2211 He had wedded hir nigh kynrede, He was the more trew to hir in dede. 1599 Massinger, etc. Old Law iii. ii, Cleanthes. Be I ne'er so well, I must be sick of thee. Eu. What ails our kindred? 1631 T. Powell Tom All Trades 24 Some such helpe, as To be a Favourite, A Kindred. 1728 Young Love Fame vi. 392 Wives..ask, what kindred is a spouse to them? |
B. attrib. passing into adj. 1. a. Of the same kin; related by birth or descent; cognate.
| 1530 Palsgr. 624, I make kynred, or make one a kynne to an other, jemparente. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 546 The bright Quire their kindred Gods invoke. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. III. 161 The countries towards the Euxine were already occupied by their kindred tribes. 1809 Campbell Gertr. Wyom. iii. viii, Nay meet not thou..thy kindred foe! 1887 Bowen Virg. æn. iii. 15 Ancient ally of the Trojans, with kindred gods to our own. |
| fig. 1687 Dryden Hind. & P. ii. 396 The dame..looking upward to her kindred sky. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iii. ix, I long'd for Carrick's kindred shore. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 160 Yet to your household thou, your kindred palaces olden, Might'st have led me. |
b. Belonging to, existing between, or done by, relatives.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 182 (Qo. 1) His hands were guilty of no kinred [1623 kindreds] bloud. 1718 Rowe tr. Lucan 10 The tender Ties of Kindred-love were torn. 1739 Smollett Regicide iv. vi, What kindred crime, alas! am I decreed To expiate. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxix, Ere childhood's flaxen ringlet turn'd To black and brown on kindred brows. |
2. Allied in nature, character, or properties; possessing similar qualities or features; cognate. Esp. in
phr. kindred spirit (see
quot. 1950).
| 1340 Ayenb. 228 ‘O’, zayþ he, ‘huet is uayr chasteté kenrede mid briȝtnesse’. 1595 Shakes. John iii. iv. 14 Who hath read, or heard Of any kindred-action like to this? 1697 Dryden Alexander's Feast 95 'Twas but a kindred sound to move, For pity melts the mind to love. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xviii. II. 79 The kindred names of Constantine, Constantius, and Constans. 1849 Geo. Eliot Let. 13 Sept. (1954) I. 307 She says, ‘You won't find any kindred spirits at Plongeon, my dear.’ 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 38 To study the formation of rain and kindred phenomena. 1898 E. Howard To-Morrow viii. 83 They can see their way to join with a sufficient number of kindred spirits. 1950 Partridge Dict. Clichés (ed. 4) 124 Kindred spirit, a, a person like another in character and temperament. |
Hence
ˈkindredless a., having no kindred or relatives.
ˈkindredly adv., in a kindred way, cognately.
ˈkindredness,
ˈkindredship, the quality or state of being of kin or akin; kinship.
| 1835 Lytton Rienzi v. iv, Shouldst thou be friendless, *kindredless, alone..I may claim thee as my own. |
| 1864 A. B. Grosart Lambs all Safe (1865) 85 Many *kindredly inscrutable and tremendous things. |
| 1838 Chalmers Wks. XIII. 96 A *kindredness in their heart with its flavour and phraseology is a kindredness with heaven. 1882 C. E. Turner Stud. Russ. Lit. i. 10 The resemblance consists only in the form and in the kindredness of subject. |
| 1769 Robertson Chas. V (1796) I. 256 He was deemed to have renounced all the rights and privileges of *kindredship. 1885 E. F. Byrrne Entangled I. i. v. 69 A certain kindredship of soul and likeness of quality. |