kin
kin — adjective
- kinpositive
- kinnercomparative
- kinnestsuperlative
1. connected to someone through a shared bloodline, descending from the same ancest
connected to someone through a shared bloodline, descending from the same ancestors
Noa discovered she was kin to the village elder through her grandmother.
be kin to + [person] — predicate adjective with preposition
After the DNA test, Liam found he was kin to a family in Cork.
The two old women had always known they were kin, though distantly.
Hoa's research looks at how kin groups share farmland across generations.
Fatima's kin network in Cairo helped her find a place to live.
- related
the everyday equivalent; use 'related' in ordinary conversation, as 'kin' sounds formal or old-fashioned
- kindred
similarly old-fashioned but often suggests shared character or spirit as well as shared blood
- consanguineous
strictly technical, used only in law, medicine, and genetics
- unrelated
having no blood or family connection whatsoever
文法句型
be + kin
be + kin + to + noun
用法筆記
Predominantly appears in the predicate position after 'be' ('they are kin', 'she is kin to him'). Attributive use ('kin groups', 'kin networks') is mostly found in academic writing, especially anthropology and sociology.
kin — noun
1. everyone who belongs to your family, whether close or distant, connected by bloo
everyone who belongs to your family, whether close or distant, connected by blood or by marriage
Amani's kin all gathered at the old farmhouse for the reunion.
After the storm, Vivek's kin came from three towns to help rebuild.
someone's kin + verb — collective action of a family group
The old sailor had outlived most of his kin and spent holidays alone.
Kemi's kin travelled from Lagos and Accra for the naming ceremony.
The elderly widow left the cottage to her kin, though none had visited in years.
- family
the everyday word; warmer and more personal than 'kin', which sounds somewhat formal or traditional
- relatives
neutral and practical; use 'relatives' for countable references ('three relatives')
- clan
a larger ancestral group sharing a common name and distant forebear, especially in Scottish and Irish contexts
- strangers
people with no family connection at all
文法句型
someone's kin
all (of) someone's kin
用法筆記
Treats relatives as a single collective group. You cannot say 'a kin' or 'three kins' — use 'a relative' or 'three relatives' for counting individuals. Commonly appears with a possessive: 'my kin', 'her kin', 'all his kin'.
常見錯誤
2. the person or small group of people most closely related to you — typically your
the person or small group of people most closely related to you — typically your parents, children, brothers, or sisters
Omar named his sister as his next of kin on the emergency contact form.
next of kin — fixed phrase for one's closest living relative
The hospital called Emily because she was the patient's closest kin.
When Caio needed surgery, his closest kin had to approve the procedure.
Nora's only kin in the country was an elderly uncle in Montreal.
The police waited until they could reach Renata, the victim's nearest kin.
- immediate family
the everyday equivalent; less formal and clearer in most situations
- next of kin
the standard legal and medical term for one's closest living relative
- closest relatives
neutral and widely understood in both speech and writing
- distant relatives
relations outside the immediate family circle — second cousins, great-aunts, and so on
文法句型
someone's closest kin
someone's nearest kin
someone's only kin
next of kin
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense narrows to the IMMEDIATE inner circle — parents, children, siblings. Sense 1 covers the whole extended family. The phrase 'next of kin' belongs to this sense and is the standard term on official forms for naming your closest living relative.