Definition

Noun: A group of people who are connected by blood relations (descent from a common ancestor) or by legal/social bonds of marriage. It refers to the basic social unit of kinship.

Usage

The term "kin group" is used to describe a collective of individuals recognized as family through lineage or alliance. It is a sociological and anthropological term. - It functions as a subject or object in a sentence. - It is often modified by adjectives specifying the type or size of the group (e.g., extended, matrilineal, small).

Examples

• The clan is a traditional kin group that traces descent from a single ancestor.
• Anthropologists studied how the kin group provided support to its members.
• Inheritance laws in that culture are based on membership in a kin group.

Advanced Usage

• "Extended kin group": Refers to a family network that includes not just parents and children but also aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.
  • The festival was a gathering for the entire extended kin group.
• "Corporate kin group": Used in anthropology to describe a kin group that functions as a collective economic or property-holding unit.
  • The land is owned by the corporate kin group, not by individuals.

Variants and Related Words

• Kinship group: A direct synonym.
• Kin: The individual members of such a group; one's relatives collectively.
• Kindred: A group of related persons; one's family and relatives.
• Clan: A kin group based on claimed descent from a common ancestor.
• Lineage: A kin group defined by descent from a known common ancestor.

Synonyms

• Family group
• Kinship network
• Descent group

Antonyms

• Strangers
• Non-relatives
• Unrelated individuals

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Next of kin": A person's closest living relative(s).
  • The hospital notified the next of kin after the accident.
• "Kith and kin": An old-fashioned phrase meaning friends and relatives.
  • He invited all his kith and kin to the celebration.

Noun

1. group of people related by blood or marriage