kin
The word “kin” is used when talking about family members.
- When the police found the body of the man who was missing, they tried to contact the next of kin.
- Donna has a lot of kin living in Tennessee.
- Our family always thought of our next door neighbor as kin. He wasn’t related to us, but he seemed like he was part of the family.
- Most of Nataliya’s kin live in Ukraine.
- Many American can still find distant kinfolk who live in Europe.
There are two words that use “kin” to form adjectives: “akin” and “kindred.” Both of these words mean that something is related or similar to something else.
- The actions that he took at the company he worked for were akin to theft.
- This wine seems closely akin to the wine we were getting in Europe. (The two wines seem similar.)
- Joe and Helen are kindred spirits. (The have similar ideas, beliefs, attitudes, etc.)
The word “kinship” is used when a relationship is strongly felt:
- Maria discovered a kinship with the Mexican people when she made her first visit to Mexico to visit her grandmother.
- The feeling of kinship in the family seemed to fall apart as one by one, they all moved away to separate and distant locations.