An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Kind

by Friedrich Kluge

Kind, neuter, ‘child,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kint (genitive kindes), neuter, Old High German chind, neuter, ‘child’; corresponding to Old Saxon kind, neuter, ‘child’; wanting in Gothic, Scandinavian, and English, but a Gothic *kinþa- may be assumed, whence Old Slovenian čędo, ‘child,’ is borrowed. In Old Icelandic a form kundr, masculine, ‘son,’ allied by gradation occurs, and with this an adjective suffix kunds, ‘descended from,’ may be most closely connected, Gothic himinakunds, ‘heavenly,’ qinakunds, ‘female,’ Anglo-Saxon feorrancund, ‘having a distant origin.’ This suffix is an old participle in to (compare alt, falt, laut, traut, Gott), from a root kun, ken, kan, which has numerous derivatives both in the Teutonic and non-Teutonic languages. The root signifies ‘to give birth to, beget’; compare König and also Gothic kuni, Old High German chunni, Middle High German künne, neuter, ‘race’ (Gothic qêns, ‘woman,’ English queen, are, however, unconnected). So too Anglo-Saxon cęnnan, ‘to give birth to, beget.’ Teutonic ken, Aryan gen, has representatives in Greek γένος, neuter, γί-γνομαι, γυνή, in Latin genus, gigno, gens, in Old Slovenian žena, ‘wife’ (Prussian gena, ‘wife’), in Lithuanian gentis, ‘relative,’ and in the Sanscrit root jan, ‘to generate,’ jánas, neuter, ‘race,’ janús, neuter, ‘birth, creature, race,’ janî, feminine, ‘woman,’ jantú, masculine, ‘child, being, tribe,’ jâtá, ‘son’ (the latter is most nearly connected with Teutonic Kind).