n. 1
People of the same ethnic descent, not including speaker; brethren.
n. 2
A household or group following the modern pagan faith of Heathenry or Ásatrú.
n. 3
Distant and close relatives, collectively; kin.
adj. 1
Connected, related, cognate, akin.

Forms

Plural: kindreds → kinships, affinities, connections, bloods…

Choose the right word

Kindred or Kin?

There are no true antonyms of kin or kindred, except those made by negatives, since strangers, aliens, foreigners, and foes may still be kin or kindred.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

connection Yanni and Skura developed an immediate connection.
affinity They feel a strange affinity with each other.
brethren Snippy had the bluest blood of all his crab brethren.
kinship Ties of kinship are very important in Islam.
folk I don't think Tom knows anything about folk music.
tribe Members of the tribe settled down along the river.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
kindred		falling
connection		falling
affinity		steady
brethren		steady
kinship		steady
folk		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: folk¹, clan¹, akin²
5 letters: house¹, blood¹, flesh¹, tribe¹, garth¹, stead¹
6 letters: people², family³, allied², hearth¹
7 letters: similar³, related³, kinship², cognate, germane², kinfolk, connate
8 letters: relation³, affinity⁴, brethren²
10 letters: connection³
11 letters: propinquity
12 letters: relationship⁴
13 letters: consanguinity

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (akin² = 2 syllables).