English word origin

Etymology of -kin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Germanic *kunją Proto-West Germanic *kuni Old English cynna Middle English -kin English -kin From Middle English -kin, -kinne, -kunne, from Old E

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

suffix

Used to form adjectives expressing resemblance or likeness to, similar to -like. · Used to form nouns having qualities of or belonging to a particular kind, class, or sort.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mention-kinenm
Inherited-form mentioncynnaang

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:-kin<ety:inh<ang:cynn<alt:cynna>>>",
        "id": "kind",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *-yós\nProto-Germanic *kunją\nProto-West Germanic *kuni\nOld English cynna\nMiddle English -kin\nEnglish -kin\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*kunją\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*kuni\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"cynn\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-kin\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-kin\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"kind\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"-kin\" id=\"English:_kind\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-kin"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -kin"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "cynna"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English cynna"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:-kin<ety:inh<ang:cynn<alt:cynna>>>",
        "id": "kind",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *-yós\nProto-Germanic *kunją\nProto-West Germanic *kuni\nOld English cynna\nMiddle English -kin\nEnglish -kin"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*ǵenh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ǵenh₁-#Proto-Indo-European:_produce"
    ],
    [
      "*-yós",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-yós#Proto-Indo-European:_suffix"
    ],
    [
      "*kunją",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kunją"
    ],
    [
      "*kuni",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kuni"
    ],
    [
      "cynna",
      "cynn#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "-kin",
      "-kin#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-kin",
      "-kin#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-kinne",
      "-kinne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-kunne",
      "-kunne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "cynna",
      "cynna#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "cynn",
      "cynn#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "Used to form adjectives expressing resemblance or likeness to, similar to -like.",
        "Used to form nouns having qualities of or belonging to a particular kind, class, or sort."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal",
        "morpheme",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "recordId": "3b1a552194fc494444d2c5529305642f2772d8b5b3a8c837f91971c7e79a6d39",
      "rawRecordSha256": "18e0f976425dab822c87f59e963cd4c7c12abcbd878ef7daaadea9197e62897b",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 219257
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

suffix

Forming diminutives of nouns.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English -kyn, (also as -ke, -k), perhaps from Old English -ca, but probably instead from Middle Dutch -kin, apparently representing Proto-West Germanic *-ikīn, *-ukīn, a double diminutive, from *-ik, *-uk (> Old English -oc) + *-īn (compare Old English -en). Cognate with Dutch -ken, Low German -ken, German -chen, Old English -ċen. More at -ock, -en.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mention-kynenm
Inherited-form mention-caang
Derivation mention-kindum
Derivation mention*-ikīngmw-pro
Cognate mention-ocang
Cognate mention-enang
Cognate mention-kennl
Cognate mention-kennds
Cognate mention-chende
Cognate mention-ċenang

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "id": "diminutive"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-kyn"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -kyn"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "-ca"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English -ca"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "dum",
        "3": "-kin"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Dutch -kin"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*-ikīn"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *-ikīn"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "-oc"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English -oc"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "-en"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English -en"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "-ken"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch -ken"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds",
        "2": "-ken"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German -ken"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "-chen"
      },
      "expansion": "German -chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "-ċen"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English -ċen"
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "id": "diminutive"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "-kyn",
      "-kyn#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-ke",
      "-ke#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-k",
      "-k#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-ca",
      "-ca#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "-kin",
      "-kin#Middle_Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "*-ikīn",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-ikīn"
    ],
    [
      "*-ukīn",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-ukīn"
    ],
    [
      "*-ik",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-ik"
    ],
    [
      "*-uk",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-uk"
    ],
    [
      "-oc",
      "-oc#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*-īn",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-īn"
    ],
    [
      "-en",
      "-en#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "-ken",
      "-ken#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "-ken",
      "-ken#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "-chen",
      "-chen#German"
    ],
    [
      "-ċen",
      "-cen#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "-ock",
      "-ock"
    ],
    [
      "-en",
      "-en"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "Forming diminutives of nouns."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "morpheme"
      ],
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "links": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for -kin →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-LWtpbg