Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A group of related persons, as a clan or tribe.
  • noun A person's relatives; kinfolk.
  • adjective Of the same ancestry or family.
  • adjective Having a similar or related origin, nature, or character.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Relationship by birth, marriage, or descent; consanguinity; kinship; affinity.
  • noun Community in kind; intrinsic relationship or connection.
  • noun In a plural sense, relatives by blood or descent, or, by extension, by marriage; a body of persons related to one another; relatives; kin.
  • noun A tribe; a body of persons connected by a family or tribal bond: with a plural form.
  • Having kinship; allied by blood or descent; related as kin.
  • Pertaining to kinship; of related origin or character; hence, native; pertaining to nativity : as, to live under kindred skies.
  • Hence Congenial; allied; of like nature, qualities, etc.: as, kindred souls; kindred pursuits.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Related; congenial; of the like nature or properties
  • noun Relationship by birth or marriage; consanguinity; affinity; kin.
  • noun Relatives by blood or marriage, more properly the former; relations; persons related to each other.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Distant and close relatives, collectively.
  • noun Peoples of the same ethnic descent, not including speaker; brethren.
  • noun countable A grouping of relatives.
  • noun A combination of extended family and religious group, of the Ásatrú religious order in America.
  • adjective Of the same nature.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective related by blood or marriage
  • noun group of people related by blood or marriage
  • adjective similar in quality or character

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English kinrede, kindrede, from Late Old English cynrēde : cyn, kin; see genə- in Indo-European roots + -rēde, condition (from Old English rǣden, -rǣden, condition; see ar- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English kindrede, alteration (with epenthetic d) of kinrede, cünreden ("kindred"), from Old English cynrēd, cynrǣden ("kindred, family, generation, posterity, stock, species"), from cynn ("kind, sort, quality, race, family, rank, gender") + -rǣden ("condition, state"), equivalent to kin +‎ -red. More at kin.

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Examples

  • We just now parted off from the weaving of clothes, the making of blankets, which differ from each other in that one is put under and the other is put around: and these are what I termed kindred arts.

    The Statesman 2006

  • And they have burst the many ties which held them; they were parents, brothers, sisters, children, and friends; but the bond of the kindred is broken, and the silver cord of love is loosed.

    Bring Back Dies Irae 2009

  • Poignant and never sentimental, this elegant memoir recalls how a family adapted and reorganized itself over and over, enduring and succeeding to remain kindred in spite of living apart.

    Brother, I'm Dying: Summary and book reviews of Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat. 2007

  • Now it chanced one holiday, that Kuzia Fakan fared forth to make festival with certain kindred of the court, and she went surrounded by her handmaids.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • People who practice Asatrú are called Asatrúar or Asatrúarfolks, and their groups are called kindred, which says a lot about their value of family, a main component in Asatrú.

    Where To Park Your Broomstick Lauren Manoy 2002

  • People who practice Asatrú are called Asatrúar or Asatrúarfolks, and their groups are called kindred, which says a lot about their value of family, a main component in Asatrú.

    Where To Park Your Broomstick Lauren Manoy 2002

  • But my kindred is nevertheless very numerous, and I thank thee for thy prayer.

    The Scottish Chiefs 1875

  • And so the Apostle, using a word kindred with that of my text, but intensifying it by addition, says, 'He became obedient even unto the death of the Cross, wherefore God also hath highly lifted Him up.'

    Expositions of Holy Scripture St. John Chapters I to XIV Alexander Maclaren 1868

  • The Ammonites were next, both in kindred and neighbourhood, to the

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721

  • The refusal to pray for an unbelieving kindred is justified, according to Mahomet, by the duty of a prophet, and the example of Abraham, who reprobated his own father as an enemy of God.

    The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1206

Comments

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  • feeling you get when your family comes to visit for the holidays

    February 20, 2007

  • bored?

    February 20, 2007

  • Also, those who "embrace" you.

    February 21, 2007

  • Middle name of Philip K. Dick.

    January 24, 2009