kith

See also: kiþ and kið

English

Etymology

From Middle English kith (“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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɪθ/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ɪθ

Noun

kith (usually uncountable, plural kiths)

1. (archaic or obsolete, uncountable) Friends and acquaintances.
   • 1843, Edward Bulwer[-]Lytton, The Last of the Barons, London; New York, N.Y.: George Routledge and Sons […], →OCLC:

     Alack, would that Edward listened more to me and less to the queen’s kith! These Woodvilles!

   • 2000 August 3, Michael Kelly, “New Hope For Nice Guys”, in Orlando Sentinel‎^[2], retrieved 2013-04-06:

     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.

2. (Northern England, Scotland, rustic, countable) An acquaintance or a friend.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:friend or Thesaurus:acquaintance

Derived terms

• kith and kin
• kith and kine
• kithfolk
• kithless

Translations

friends and acquaintances

• Catalan: coneguts (ca) m pl, amistats (ca) f pl i parentela f
• Czech: známí (cs) m pl
• Finnish: ystävät ja tuttavat pl
• Georgian: ნაცნობები და ნათესავები (nacnobebi da natesavebi)
• Russian: друзья́ и знако́мые pl (druzʹjá i znakómyje)
• Serbo-Croatian: znanci m, poznanici (sh) m
• Swedish: vänner (sv) c pl, bekanta (sv) c pl

See also

• kin
• kinfolk

Albanian

Etymology

Variant of kic (“I bite”).

Noun

kith m

1. veil of mystery
2. fog covering the tops of mountains

Related terms

• kic

Middle English

Alternative forms

• (Early ME) cyððe, cuððe, cuþþe, kuþþe
• kyth, kiþ, kiþþe, kythe, kuythe, kiththe, kyþe

Etymology

From Old English cȳþþ, cȳþþu, from Proto-Germanic *kunþiþō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kiθ/, /ˈkið(ə)/, /kuθ/, /ˈkuð(ə)/

Noun

kith (plural kithes)

1. One's motherland or birthplace; the region or territory where one belongs
2. One's kin, ethnicity, or lineage; the people one belongs to.
3. One's descendant; a person from one's line.
4. Relation; connection by blood, heritage.
5. (rare) learning, facts
6. (rare) tradition, good manners.
7. (rare) The state of knowing someone.

Descendants

• English: kith
• Scots: kith, kyth, kythe

References

• “kitthe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-22.