-kin
suffix
suffix ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Suffix
- 1 Used to form adjectives expressing resemblance or likeness to, similar to -like. dialectal, morpheme
"alkin"
- 2 Forming diminutives of nouns. archaic, morpheme
- 3 Used to form nouns having qualities of or belonging to a particular kind, class, or sort. morpheme
"otakukin"
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English -kin, -kinne, -kunne, from Old English cynna, the genitive plural of cynn (“kind, sort, rank”), used in compounds.
Etymology 2
From Middle English -kin, -ken (also as -ke, -k), perhaps from Old English -ca, but more likely from Middle Dutch -ken (compare cognate Middle English -chen, -chin, from Old English -ċen), apparently representing Proto-West Germanic *-ikīn, *-ukīn, a double diminutive, from *-ik, *-uk (> Old English -oc) + *-īn (compare Old English -en). Cognate with Dutch -ken, Low German -ken, German -chen, Old English -ċen. More at -ock, -en.
More for "-kin"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.