Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Connection by heredity, marriage, or adoption; family relationship.
  • noun Relationship by nature or character; affinity.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Relationship; consanguinity; generic affinity.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Family relationship.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun relation or connection by blood, marriage or adoption
  • noun relation or connection by nature or character

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character
  • noun (anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From kin +‎ -ship.

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Examples

  • I feel a certain kinship with Mr. Garner's sentiment; the way I learned to be a playwright was from hours spent -- when I should have been doing my homework -- reading plays.

    A Good Read 2009

  • "Gimmickry, supernatural and otherwise, blunts what could have been an incisive inquiry into the mysteries and frustrations of too-close kinship from the talented Niffenegger" - Kirkus Reviews

    Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger: Book summary 2010

  • Still, some evidence suggests that kinship is not the be-all and end-all it is often believed to be.

    Play’s the Thing 2010

  • Still, some evidence suggests that kinship is not the be-all and end-all it is often believed to be.

    Play’s the Thing 2010

  • Still, some evidence suggests that kinship is not the be-all and end-all it is often believed to be.

    Play’s the Thing 2010

  • And again, I find myself in kinship with him, because in my focus on religious, philosophical, and spiritual horror, I'm walking an analogous line between the paradisiacal potentials of these things and the nightmarish ones.

    Dark Awakenings and Cosmic Horror : The Lovecraft News Network 2010

  • Boehner said he feels a certain kinship with the outsider candidates, who remind him of himself 20 years ago.

    The rise, fall and rise of John Boehner Paul Kane 2010

  • "I think all guitarists feel a certain kinship," he says, "but they're also a very odd breed."

    Washington is once again taking pride of place in its classical guitar tradition Anne Midgette 2010

  • And again, I find myself in kinship with him, because in my focus on religious, philosophical, and spiritual horror, I'm walking an analogous line between the paradisiacal potentials of these things and the nightmarish ones.

    Archive 2010-03-01 2010

  • So reasoning, he felt his soul go forth in kinship with that august company, that multitude whose gaze was forever upon the arras of infinity.

    THE RED ONE 2010

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