Word of the Day : March 20, 2023
kith
邻居；亲属
noun /KITH/
What It Means
Kith is an old-fashioned term that refers to familiar friends, neighbors, or relatives. It is often used in the phrase “kith and kin,” which means “friends and relatives.”
Kith 古用语，指的是熟悉的朋友、邻居或亲戚。 它经常用在短语“kith and kin”中，意思是“friends and relatives「朋友和亲戚」”。
KITH in Context
“The gathering of our kith and kin usually bears the promise of festive feasting. But it’s the process, cooking together, that’s almost better than the results. Learning and laughing across generations is surely the sweetest dish of all.” — Lynne Ireland, The Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star , 4 Jan. 2023
We love inviting all of our kith and kin to family cookouts on holidays.
我们喜欢在假期邀请我们所有的亲朋好友参加家庭野餐。
Did You Know?
If you’d used the word kith a thousand years ago, you might have been referring to knowledge, or to a homeland, or possibly to your neighbors and acquaintances. While those first two meanings of kith have long since fallen out of use, the word endures with a meaning very close to that “neighbors and acquaintances” one. Today kith appears almost exclusively in the phrase kith and kin, meaning “friends and relatives.” (Kin, another ancient word, can also refer independently to relatives.) Occasionally you will see kith and kin used to refer only to family members, much to the chagrin of those who despise redundancy in language. If you wish to avoid redundancy charges you’ll be sure to include friends as well as family among your “kith and kin.”
如果你在一千年前使用 kith 这个词，可能指的是知识、家园，或者可能是你的邻居和熟人。 虽然 kith 的前两个含义已不再使用，第三种含义与“邻居和熟人”非常接近。 今天 kith 几乎只出现在短语 kith and kin 中，意思是“ neighbors and acquaintances「朋友和亲戚」”。 （Kin，另一个古老的词，也可以单独指亲戚。）偶尔也会看到 kith and kin 表示家庭成员的意思，这让那些讨厌语言繁琐的人很懊恼。If you wish to avoid redundancy charges you’ll be sure to include friends as well as family among your “kith and kin.”
Test Your Vocabulary
Rearrange the letters to reveal a noun that is synonymous with kinship and that can also mean “sympathy marked by community of interest”: NIFTYAFI.
affinity