Etymologically
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kind

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kaɪnd/[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English kinde, inherited from Old English gecynd (“kind, nature, race”), also cynd,[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *gakundiz, formed from the collective prefix *ga-, the base of kin and an abstract suffix.[5][2] Barnhart relates it to Latin nātiō (“tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European *genə- (“to give birth, beget”).[3][6][2] Etymonline finds no exact cognates outside English, only the adjective endings Gothic -kunds and Old High German -kund,[2] while RHWU compares Old Norse kyndi and kikunt.[7] The adjective is kinde, from gecynde (“natural, native, innate”), formed from the noun.[2][3][4] The Old English prefix ge- was dropped between 1150 and 1250.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective gecynde meant “natural, native, innate” about 725, in Beowulf;[3] the noun gecynd meant “nature, the natural order, innate character”, and also “race”, before 899, in Alfred's Boethius.[3][8][9] Ælfric called the Book of Genesis gecyndboc.[2]

Semantic evolution

From “nature, innate character” the noun came to mean a class of people or things that share a nature, and so “sort, variety”.[8][9] A kind of “something like” is from the 1590s,[2] and the adverbial kind of “somewhat” (kind of stupid) from 1804.[2] All kinds goes back to Old English alles cynnes, contracted in Middle English to alkins.[2] Kind named a literary genre from 1546[10] and each element of the Eucharist (communion in both kinds) from about 1531.[10] The adjective in Middle English meant “well-born, well-bred”, and as good breeding was linked with good manners it came to mean “well-disposed by nature, gentle” and then “benevolent”,[8][9][5] by about 1300 according to Etymonline[2] and about 1325, in Cursor Mundi, according to Barnhart.[3] Kindly goes back to Old English cyndelic (before 899),[3] and kind-hearted is from 1535.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – adjective gecynde, natural (Beowulf).[3]
  • before 899 – noun gecynd, nature (Alfred).[3]
  • c. 1200 – kinde, nature, type, class (Ormulum).[3]
  • c. 1250 – adjective kinde, natural, native.[3]
  • c. 1300 – well-disposed, compassionate.[2]
  • c. 1531 – each element of the Eucharist.[10]
  • 1535 – kind-hearted.[3]
  • 1546 – a literary genre.[10]
  • 1590s – a kind of.[2]
  • 1804 – kind of, somewhat.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A group of individuals that share common traits; a class.
  2. A particular variety; a sort.
  3. Basic nature or character.
  4. (in kind) In goods rather than money; in the same way.
  5. (kind of, informal) Somewhat, rather.

Adjective

  1. Friendly, generous and warm-hearted.
  2. Showing sympathy; considerate or humane.
  3. Tolerant or forbearing.

Word family

  • in-kind
  • kinda
  • kindhearted
  • kindless
  • kindly
  • kindness
  • overkind
  • unkind
  • kin
  • kindred
  • kinship
  • mankind
  • king
  • nation
  • gender

Usage notes

These kind of with a plural noun is often condemned, but RHWU notes that kind was historically an unchanged plural like deer or sheep, and the construction occurs in Shakespeare, Swift and Jane Austen;[7] the AHD adds that British grammarians have been more tolerant of it than American ones.[11] In formal writing this kind of and these kinds of are more usual.[7] RHWU distinguishes kind, a deep-seated trait shown in considerate behaviour, from gracious, kindness from a superior, kindhearted, an emotionally sympathetic nature, and kindly, a mild word for disposition or manner.[7]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin