Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- acquaintances, friends, neighbors, or the like; persons living in the same general locality and forming a more or less cohesive group.
- kindred.
- a group of people living in the same area and forming a culture with a common language, customs, economy, etc., usually endogamous.
noun
- one’s friends and acquaintances (esp in the phrase kith and kin)
Old English cyðð “kinship, relationship; kinsfolk, fellow-countrymen, neighbors; native country, home; knowledge, acquaintance, familiarity,” from cuð “known,” past participle of cunnan “to know” (see can (v.)). Cognate with Old High German chundida. The alliterative phrase kith and kin (late 14c.) originally meant “country and kinsmen” and is almost the word’s only survival.