Etymologically
Log in

cynn

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 18:42. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /kynn/, [kyn][1]

Forms

cynn m or n (strong a-stem; genitive singular cynnes)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *kuni, from Proto-Germanic *kunją (“clan, kin”).[1][2] The noun is shared by Gothic 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌹 (kuni, “clan, tribe”), Old Norse kyn, Old Frisian kin, Old Saxon kunni, Old Dutch *kunni and Old High German kunni.[2][3][4]

Kroonen explains it as a ja-stem to the root Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to be born, beget”), reconstructing Proto-Indo-European *ǵnh₁-io-, and he and Köbler relate it to cennan, cyning and -cund.[2][4] The same root is behind Ancient Greek γένος (génos) and Latin genus.[1] The Old Norse word has a homonym meaning “wonder, portent”, which Kroonen derives from the root of “to know”.[2]

The ⟨y⟩ is the i-umlaut of Proto-Germanic /u/, caused by the following *j, and the ⟨nn⟩ the West Germanic gemination before it.[3][5] Ringe and Taylor explain the nominative *cyne, which sound change would have given, as levelled out in favour of the geminate forms; the older stem survives only in the compound cynedōm.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the will of the reeve Abba (833×839), a single sheet held to be contemporary: his land is to pass after his wife “swæ forð min cynn ða hwile þe God wille”, and so on to my kin, as long as God wills.[8][9] The Vespasian Psalter gloss (s. ix med.) has in ylcre cneorisse & cynne for “in omni generatione et progenie”, in every generation and lineage.[10][9]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller's first sense takes in every group of one kind: kindred, family, lineage, generation and offspring, and also race, nation, people and tribe (Israhela cyn, engla cynn, monna cynn).[11] From it came “kind, sort”, frequent in phrases such as ælces cynnes “of every kind”.[12][13] The grammarians used it for grammatical gender (twa cynn, masculine and feminine), and the medical texts for sex: “which sex of child she shall bear”.[11] In the laws it is also rank or class, as in gesiðcundes cynnes.[13] The Lindisfarne gloss renders with it “generatio”, “gens”, “genus”, “natio”, “progenies” and “tribus”.[14]

The word lived on as Middle English kyn, now English kin; the sense “gender, sex” was lost in Middle English.[15]

Timeline

  • 833×839 – min cynn “my kin” in the will of Abba, a contemporary single sheet.[8][9]
  • s. ix med. – cneorisse & cynne “generation and lineage” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[10][9]
  • 890×897 – ge sint acoren kynn “you are a chosen race” in the Pastoral Care.[12][16]
  • c. 1021 – æniges cynnes wudutreowu “forest trees of any kind” in Cnut's laws.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. kindred, family, lineage; offspring, generation.[11][4]
  2. a race, people, nation, tribe.[11][17]
  3. a kind, sort, species.[18][19]
  4. rank, class.[13][19]
  5. (grammar) gender.[11]
  6. sex.[11][19]

Word family

  • mancynn
  • Angelcynn
  • wīfcynn
  • wǣpnedcynn
  • frumcynn
  • eormencynn
  • feorhcynn
  • hellecynn
  • nīetencynn
  • cynecynn

Descendants

  • Middle English kyn (→ English kin; Middle Scots kin; Middle Scots kyn)[1]
  • -cund
  • cynd
  • cyne-
  • ġecynd
  • cennan
  • cyning
  • cnōsl

Usage notes

Bosworth and Toller and Clark Hall also list a cynn meaning “fitting, proper”, used mostly in hit is cynn þæt… “it is right that…” in the Pastoral Care and the laws, and as a noun “a proper proceeding, courtesy”.[11][12][19] In Beowulf the queen goes forth cynna gemyndig, mindful of courtesies;[17] Klaeber connects this word with ġecynde and cunnan.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 311
  3. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 30
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. cynn
  5. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 223
  6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 47
  7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 387
  8. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1482
  9. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  10. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 183
  12. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 140
  13. ^ a b c Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 45
  14. ^ Cook, Albert S. (1894), A Glossary of the Old Northumbrian Gospels, Halle: Niemeyer
  15. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
  17. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. cynn
  18. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 186
  19. ^ a b c d Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 79