Blood relationship or family connection; a feeling of being close or connected to others due to shared characteristics or experiences.
From Middle English kin (family, relatives) plus the suffix -ship (condition or quality). 'Kin' derives from Old English cynn, related to Old Norse kyn and German Kind, all meaning family or offspring.
Kinship systems are so fundamental to human society that anthropologists use them as primary tools for understanding different cultures. The English language reveals our cultural emphasis on nuclear families - we have fewer specific kinship terms than many other languages that distinguish, for example, between maternal and paternal uncles.
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