A ActivateWords

Dictionary / kind

kind

/kaɪnd/
  • noun
  • adjective
  • from Old English

A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together.

▶ Play the mastery game

1 All current definitions

Every sense of “kind” in current use, as recorded by Wiktionary. Older and obsolete senses are kept separately.

noun · etymology 1

  1. A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together.

    What kind of (a) person are you?

  2. A makeshift or otherwise atypical specimen.

    The opening served as a kind of window.

  3. Goods or services used as payment, as e.g. in barter.

    in kind

  4. Equivalent means used as response to an action.

    in kind

  5. Each of the two elements of the communion service, bread and wine.
  6. The type of a type constructor or a higher-order type operator.

    The kind of any primitive data type is *, corresponding to a nullary constructor.

  7. Caribbeanin compoundsFood in a particular category.

    Fish kind was what she ate then.1998, Easton Lee, From Behind the Counter: Poems from a Rural Jamaican Experience:

Older & obsolete senses (3)
  1. archaicOne's inherent nature; character, natural disposition.
  2. archaicFamily, lineage.
  3. archaicManner.
Wiktionary: “kind” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

adjective · etymology 2

  1. Having a benevolent, courteous, friendly, generous, gentle, liberal, sympathetic, or warm-hearted nature or disposition, marked by consideration for – and service to – others.
  2. Affectionate.

    a kind man; a kind heart

  3. Favorable.
  4. Mild, gentle, forgiving

    The years have been kind to Richard Gere; he ages well.

  5. Gentle; tractable; easily governed.

    a horse kind in harness

Older & obsolete senses (1)
  1. obsoleteCharacteristic of the species; belonging to one's nature; natural; native.
Wiktionary: “kind” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
Cross-check: WordNet senses (4)
  1. nouna category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality — also: sort, form, variety
  2. adjectivehaving or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
  3. adjectiveagreeable, conducive to comfort — also: genial
  4. adjectivetolerant and forgiving under provocation — also: tolerant
Princeton WordNet 3.0 — WordNet License

Synonyms: genre, sort, type, derivative, generation, offspring, child

Wiktionary: “kind” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

2 History of the word

The etymology, the path the word travelled, and the words built from it.

Etymology 1 (noun)

The word’s journey, newest to oldest:

  1. English (today)kind
  2. Middle Englishkynde
  3. Old Englishcynd
  4. Proto-West Germanic*kundi
  5. Proto-Germanic*kinþiz

From Middle English kynde, kinde, from Old English cynd, ġecynd (“inherent nature, disposition, kind, gender, generation, race”), from Proto-West Germanic *kundi, from Proto-Germanic *kinþiz, related to Proto-Germanic *kunją (“race, kin”) and Old English cennan (“to bear, give birth”).

Cognate with Old High German gikunt (“nature, kind”), Icelandic kind (“race, species, kind”). Doublet of gens, genesis, and jati. See also kin.

Wiktionary: “kind” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Etymology 2 (adjective)

The word’s journey, newest to oldest:

  1. English (today)kind
  2. Middle Englishkynde
  3. Old Englishcynde
  4. Old Englishcynd

From Middle English kynde, kinde, from Old English cynde, ġecynde (“innate, natural, native”), from Old English cynd, ġecynd (“nature, kind”).

Wiktionary: “kind” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Derivatives — words built from “kind”

breadkindfirst-of-its-kindfive-of-a-kindfour-of-a-kindgrant-in-kindin-kind-kindkindamany-kindedone-of-a-kindsubkindthree-of-a-kindtwo-of-a-kindunderkindkindfulkindheartedkindishkindlesskindlykindnesskindshipkindsomeoverkindunkind

Phrases & compounds

any old kind of wayblood kinderror of the first kinderror of the second kindfive of a kindfour of a kindgrant in kindin kindkind ofkind of likeof a kindof its kindone kindone of a kindperpetual motion machine of the first kindperpetual motion machine of the second kindsome kind ofStirling number of the second kindthree of a kindtwo of a kind

Related terms

kinkindhoodkindredkinship
Wiktionary: “kind” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Want to go deeper? See also “kind” on Etymonline ↗

3 Original language

Where “kind” came from before it was English.

Etymology 1 (noun)

Native English word, from
Old English
Old English cynd
Deepest root (reconstructed)
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic *kinþiz

Etymology 2 (adjective)

Native English word, from
Old English
Old English cynde
Oldest written form
Old English
Old English cynd
Wiktionary: “kind” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

4 Original meaning

What the word meant at the oldest point the record reaches.

Wiktionary’s etymology does not give a separate meaning for the earliest form of “kind”, so we don’t state one. The historical dictionary entry below shows how the word was understood in 1913.

Historical meaning — Webster’s 1913

A historical record, labelled as such: some of these senses are dated or have since shifted.

kind a. [AS. cynde, gecynde, natural, innate, prop. an old p. p. from the root of E. kin. See Kin kindred.]

  1. Characteristic of the species; belonging to one's nature; natural; native.
  2. Having feelings befitting our common nature; congenial; sympathetic; as, a kind man; a kind heart.
  3. Showing tenderness or goodness; disposed to do good and confer happiness; averse to hurting or paining; benevolent; benignant; gracious.
  4. Proceeding from, or characterized by, goodness, gentleness, or benevolence; as, a kind act.

kind n. [OE. kinde, cunde, AS. cynd. See Kind, a.]

  1. Nature; natural instinct or disposition.
  2. Race; genus; species; generic class; as, in mankind or humankind.
  3. Sort; type; class; nature; style; character; fashion; manner; variety; description; as, there are several kinds of eloquence, of style, and of music; many kinds of government; various kinds of soil, etc.

kind v. t. [See Kin.]

  1. To beget.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), public domain, via GCIDE

5 Use it with confidence

Model sentences from the sources, matched to the meaning they show. Read each one aloud, then make your own in the game.

nounMeaning: A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together.

What kind of (a) person are you?

What kind of ice-cream would you like? There's chocolate, strawberry, and lemon.

nounMeaning: A makeshift or otherwise atypical specimen.

The opening served as a kind of window.

I got my traps out of the canoe and made me a nice camp in the thick woods. I made a kind of a tent out of my blankets to put my things under so the rain couldn't get at them.1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VIII, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:

nounMeaning: Goods or services used as payment, as e.g. in barter.

in kind

I don't have any money but I can pay in kind by washing the dishes.

nounMeaning: Equivalent means used as response to an action.

in kind

I'll pay in kind for his insult.

nounMeaning: The type of a type constructor or a higher-order type operator.

The kind of any primitive data type is *, corresponding to a nullary constructor.

nounMeaning: Food in a particular category.

Fish kind was what she ate then.1998, Easton Lee, From Behind the Counter: Poems from a Rural Jamaican Experience:

The farmers had plenty of ground provisions, but there was no "meat kind."2005 January 1, Michaeline A. Crichlow, Negotiating Caribbean Freedom: Peasants and the State in Development, Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 116:

nounMeaning: a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality

what kinds of desserts are there?

adjectiveMeaning: having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior

kind to sick patients

a kind master

adjectiveMeaning: agreeable, conducive to comfort

a dry climate kind to asthmatics

hot summer pavements are anything but kind to the feet

adjectiveMeaning: tolerant and forgiving under provocation

our neighbor was very kind about the window our son broke

Princeton WordNet 3.0 — WordNet License
Wiktionary: “kind” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Three steps to owning it

  1. Pick one meaning above and read its model sentence out loud.
  2. Say who or what the word is about in your own life, then build a sentence around that.
  3. Check it against the definition: would a careful reader understand exactly that meaning?

6 The mastery game

Play it here, or print it and do it with pen and paper. At the end you will know the meanings, history, origin and original meaning — and you will have used the word yourself.

Step 1 of 9

Say it, then spell it

kind

/kaɪnd/

Say the word out loud three times, slowly. Notice the stressed syllable. When you are ready, hide it and spell it from memory.

Activate Words · Word-mastery worksheet · Name: ______________________ Date: __________

kind

/kaɪnd/ · noun, adjective

Step 1 — Say it and write it

Say “kind” out loud three times. Then cover the word and write it three times from memory.

Step 2 — Know every meaning

Read each definition. Then write it again in your own words.

1. (noun) A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together.
2. (noun) A makeshift or otherwise atypical specimen.
3. (noun) Goods or services used as payment, as e.g. in barter.
4. (noun) Equivalent means used as response to an action.
5. (noun) Each of the two elements of the communion service, bread and wine.

Step 3 — Which meaning is it?

“What kind of (a) person are you?”

A. Goods or services used as payment, as e.g. in barter.
B. A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together.
C. The type of a type constructor or a higher-order type operator.

Circle the meaning used.

“The opening served as a kind of window.”

A. A makeshift or otherwise atypical specimen.
B. Equivalent means used as response to an action.
C. Each of the two elements of the communion service, bread and wine.

Circle the meaning used.

“in kind”

A. A makeshift or otherwise atypical specimen.
B. Goods or services used as payment, as e.g. in barter.
C. Each of the two elements of the communion service, bread and wine.

Circle the meaning used.

Step 4 — History and origin

Which language did “kind” come into English from?   A. Late Latin  B. Old English  C. Old French  D. French

Write the word’s journey back in time (each language and form):

Write three words built from “kind” and what each means:

Step 5 — Original meaning

Read the etymology on the page. What does it tell you about the word’s earlier meaning?

How does that original meaning connect to the meanings today?

Step 6 — Use it yourself

Write a sentence using “kind” to mean: A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together.
Write a sentence using “kind” to mean: A makeshift or otherwise atypical specimen.
Write a sentence using “kind” to mean: Goods or services used as payment, as e.g. in barter.

☐ I can explain its meanings   ☐ I know its history   ☐ I know its original language   ☐ I know its original meaning   ☐ I can use it confidently

Answer key — kind

Which meaning, sentence 1: B. A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together.

Which meaning, sentence 2: A. A makeshift or otherwise atypical specimen.

Which meaning, sentence 3: B. Goods or services used as payment, as e.g. in barter.

Origin: B. Old English (Old English cynd)

Journey: English kind ← Middle English kynde ← Old English cynd ← Proto-West Germanic *kundi ← Proto-Germanic *kinþiz

Some derivatives: breadkind, first-of-its-kind, five-of-a-kind, four-of-a-kind, grant-in-kind, in-kind, -kind, kinda

Etymology: From Middle English kynde, kinde, from Old English cynd, ġecynd (“inherent nature, disposition, kind, gender, generation, race”), from Proto-West Germanic *kundi, from Proto-Germanic *kinþiz, related to Proto-Germanic *kunją (“race, kin”) and Old English cennan (“to bear, give birth”).

Sources: Wiktionary “kind” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kind#English), CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org; Princeton WordNet 3.0; Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913, public domain) via GCIDE. Worksheet from https://activatewords.com/w/kind