Word of the Day

: August 27, 2020

kindred

adjective KIN-drud

What It Means

1 : of a similar nature or character : like

2 : of the same ancestry

kindred in Context

"Osterholm over the last few decades has been part of expert panels addressing … infectious zoonotic viruses kindred to Covid-19 such as Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)." — Todd Wilkinson, The Mountain Journal (Bozeman, Montana), 12 Apr. 2020

"This study also highlights how identifying with the personality traits of a musician who feels like a kindred spirit can have positive psychological benefits for the listener.…" — Christopher Bergland, Psychology Today, 5 July 2020

Did You Know?

If you believe that advice and relatives are inseparable, the etymology of kindred will prove you right. Kindred comes from a combination of kin and the Old English word ræden ("condition"), which itself comes from the verb rædan, meaning "to advise." Kindred entered English as a noun first during the Middle Ages. That noun, which can refer to a group of related individuals or to one's own relatives, gave rise to the adjective kindred in the 14th century.