Also spelled kinsfolk

US /ˈkɪnfoʊk/ UK /ˈkɪnfəʊk/
noun Freq #50323

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    old-fashioned or regional: one's relatives or family considered collectively

    Most of her kinfolk still live in the mountain town where she was born.

  2. 2
    noun

    people regarded as family because of a close bond, shared identity, or common origin

    The displaced families treated their new neighbors as kinfolk.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · old-fashioned or regional:... familyrelativesrelationskindred
2 noun · people regarded as family... chosen familycommunitykindred
Opposites
Word family
Forms kinfolks
Related forms kinkinsfolkkinshipclan

Etymology

A compound of kin + folk. Kin descends from Old English cynn ("family, race, kind"), while folk comes from Old English folc ("people"). The established variant kinsfolk preserves an added linking -s-.

Topics

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