kith
Friends and acquaintances.
Noun
- Friends and acquaintances.
- Alack, would that Edward listened more to me and less to the queen’s kith! These Woodvilles! - 1843, Edward Bulwer[-]Lytton, The Last of the Barons, London; New York, N.Y.: George Routledge and Sons […], →OCLC:
- The demography-crossing thing that undergirds this election year, I think, is a strong, broad desire to punish Clinton and his kith with a denial of further power. - 2000 August 3, Michael Kelly, “New Hope For Nice...
- An acquaintance or a friend.
- A person who is not related to a child but has social connections to the child's family, especially when considered as a caregiver or possible caregiver for the child.
- The Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (the society) seeks an order finding the child in need of protection and placing him in the care and custody of a kith, H.O., for a period of six months, subject to terms...
Origin
From Middle English kitthe (“kinsmen, relations”), from Old English cȳþþ, cȳþþu (“kinship, kinsfolk, relations”), from Proto-Germanic *kunþiþō (“knowledge, acquaintance”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”). Cognate with Old High German kundida (“kith”), kundī (“knowledge”), Gothic 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌹 (kunþi, “knowledge”). More at couth, -th.