kith

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The Word of the Day for December 24 is:=20

kith   \KITH\   noun
         : familiar friends, neighbors, or relatives

Example sentence:
          Andre makes it a point to have at least one barbecue a year at=
 his house in order to stay in touch with his kith and kin.

Did you know?
          "Kith" has had many meanings over the years. In its earliest u=
ses it referred to knowledge of something, but that meaning died out in =
the 1400s. Another sense, "one's native land," had come and gone by the =
early 1500s. The sense "friends, fellow countrymen, or neighbors" develo=
ped before the 12th century and was sometimes used as a synonym of "kins=
folk." That last sense got "kith" into hot water after people began usin=
g the word in the alliterative phrase "kith and kin." Over the years, us=
age commentators have complained that "kith" means the same thing as "ki=
n," so "kith and kin" is redundant. Clearly, they have overlooked some o=
ther historical definitions, but if you want to avoid redundancy charges=
, be sure to include friends as well as relatives among your "kith and k=
in."





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