kith

See also: kiþ and kið

English

From Middle English kitthe (“kinsmen, relations”),^[1] 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.

kith (usually uncountable, plural kiths)

(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], archived from the original on 18 June 2013:
  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.
(Northern England, Scotland, rustic, countable) An acquaintance or a friend.
(social work, countable or uncountable) A person who is not related to a child but has social connections to the child's family, especially when considered as a caregiver or possible caregiver for the child.
- 2024 May 14, W. Kapurura, “Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto v. A.M., 2024 ONCJ 235”, in CanLII‎^[3], retrieved 30 May 2026:
  The Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (the society) seeks an order finding the child in need of protection and placing him in the care and custody of a kith, H.O., for a period of six months, subject to terms of supervision by the society. [Footnote:] ‘[K]ith’ refers to a community member such as a family friend or neighbour who agrees to provide care to a child until the child can safely return home.

friends and acquaintances

^ Arika Okrent (5 July 2019), “12 Old Words That Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms”, in Mental Floss‎^[1], Pocket, archived from the original on 17 September 2025

Variant of kic (“I bite”).

kith m

kith