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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

KIND, n., adj., v., adv. Also keind, kynd, kin', kyne. Sc. forms and usages:

I. n. 1. Innate character or disposition, nature, sort. Now obs. except dial. in Eng. Cf. Eng. sort in its various usages.Ayr. a.1792 Burns She's Fair and Fause ii.:
Nae ferlie 'tis, tho' fickle she prove, A woman has't by kind.Bwk. 1856 G. Henderson Pop. Rhymes 45:
They hae it by kind, like the Blainslie Aits.ne.Sc. 1884 D. Grant Lays 71:
Here there follow jokes an' laughter Rough an' ready in their kin'.

2. One's ancestry, family or lineage; blood-relations or -relationship; inherited character (Dmf., s.Sc. 1960). All now obs. or arch. in Eng. In pl, children (Mry. 1975, in form kinder, after childer). Obs. in Eng. in 15th c. Sc. 1824 Scott Letters (Cent. ed.) V. 463:
Did I show you among my other rattle-traps a dirk with the mottœ “Better kind fremit as fremit kind”?Sc. 1825 Anon. Writer's Clerk II. 124:
He tak's it well o' kind, for his father is as worthy a man as is in Homeston.Kcb. 1891 M. A. Maxwell Halloween Guest 53:
Baith the faither and mother mean weel, but Katie certainly breaks off kind.Inv. 1911 Buchan Observer (10 April 1962) 7:
His kynds wis braggin aboot hoo much their father wis tae make.Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 9:
Ee canna pass keind — it belangs eer foak, man!Rxb. 1950:
They're no the same kind o Wilsons at aa.Uls. 1953 Traynor:
Kind father kind son, said when a son does something (good or bad) arising from heredity.

Phr.: out o(f) (the, one's) kind, at variance with or contrary to inherited rank or character, out of one's quality.Abd. p.1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shep. MS. 125:
For ye was born and hopes ye'll die a Laird. Ye're nae yet out of kind for a' your bra's.Cai. 1916 J. Mowat Proverbs 6, 8:
Better oot o' 'e keets, than oot o' 'e kind. . . “He's gaen oot o' e' kind” — he has broken the traditions of his ancestry.

3. Phrs.: (1) (a) kin(d) o(f), used adv.: somewhat, rather, as it were, after a fashion, to some degree, by way of. Freq. in reduced forms kin(d)a, kinna, kinnae, keindih, keindo (kinna Bnff., Abd., Ags., Fif., Arg., Gsw., Ayr., Dmf. 2000s). Gen.Sc. and in colloq. and dial. Eng. Also in phr. keind-o, no verra, bit gey, = in a sort of way, yes and no, “an evasive, non-committal expression” (Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 13; Bnff., Fif. 1960). Hence kin-a-wise (m.Sc., Slk. 1960), kinnaweys, id. For gey keind, see Gey, II. 2.; (2) anither kin(d), a different sort of person, through improved health or spirits, in phrs. to be, feel, look etc. anither kin' (ne.Sc. 1960); (3) in a kind, in a sort of a way, after a fashion or manner (ne.Sc., Fif. 1960). Arch. in Eng.; (4) yon kin(d), euphemistically: not quite normal or proper, not quite the thing, slightly indecent, not worth much, poor quality, rather weak-minded, in indifferent health (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags., Per., wm.Sc. 1960).(1) Dmf. 1863 R. Quinn Heather Lintie 40:
Ye ken ye've kin-o-wise neglecket Me, sin' we cam' tae be connecket.Sc. 1879 Stevenson Deacon Brodie (1924) i. i. 2:
He was kind of hurt when first they made me Procurator.Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) vii.:
He's juist akinda ridic'lously sensible.Abd. 1923 J. Hunter MS. Diary (20 Oct.):
We had a kind of 17 [ricks] altogether and 15 qrs. thrashed.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 2:
A . . . turnt keindih pechlt.Gall. 1933 Gallov. Annual 59:
I ken there's something wrong with her insides and — well, it makes her kinna ill tae dae wi' whiles.Ayr. 1955 S. T. Ross Bairnsangs 12:
I hae nae need o' shune Or claes But kinnaweys I'm like the man i' the mune.wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 3:
Am I right or am I wrang eh, Mister Cléante?
You're ... kinna half-sensible, yet I'd want -
If I were my son's wife - or him (which I'm no)
To ban you from this hearth ... m.Sc. 1994 Martin Bowman and Bill Findlay Forever Yours, Marie-Lou 38:
... Then ah'd tell thum aw kinnae things...While daein ma knittin ah wid tell thum true stories aboot ye... m.Sc. 1996 Christopher Brookmyre Quite Ugly One Morning (1997) 12:
'That kinna thing, yeah.' m.Sc. 1997 Liz Niven Past Presents 11:
Whit kinna cratur
Canna let a lass
Mak claes fir her bairn? Ayr. 1999:
But kinnaweys A'm like the man i' the muin. em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 80:
' ... Ye're away wi the fairies, man. Don't come tae me wi this kinna crap. Bring me real issues, bring me the real world. ... '(3) Knr. 1891 H. Haliburton Ochil Idylls 47:
We've dune withoot ye in a kind, We'll dae withoot ye better yet.(4) Abd. 1959:
“He tellt a lot o funny stories but some were gey yon kin.” “He tried tae sell me aipples frae the back o the staa but they were near aa yon kin an I wadna hae them at onie price.” “The bairn's yon kin, nae aa come.” “Foo are ye the day?” “Jist yon kin.”

4. With preceding neg.: of any description (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Sh., m.Lth., Kcb. 1959).Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 1, 12:
No a biggeen keind was there ti be seen . . . No a leevin sowl — no a body keind — did A sei.Lnk.¹¹ 1942:
There's neither fiddle nor fiddle kind in my hoose.Uls. 1953 Traynor:
Out she ran on the street without a shawl kind on her.

II. adj. 1. Native, of the natural breed = Kindly, 2. (Sh. 1960).Sh. 1931 J. Nicolson Tales 17:
The statement was made that there was two distinct species in Shetland. One was known as the “kind sheep”.

2. Of a ewe: showing natural maternal feeling. Cf. Kindly, 1.m.Lth. 1957:
They're a kind sort o yowe. Pit their deid lamb's skin on an orphan and they take to it richt away.

3. Belonging to one by right of birth or inheritance, = Kindly, 3. Hence deriv. kindness, a right in virtue of birth, etc.Sc. 1702 T. Morer Acct. of Scot. 4:
Being without those long kind Leases the Tenants in England have.Sc. a.1814 J. Ramsay Scot. and Scotsmen (1888) II. 355:
The tenure of kindness, though no longer recognised by courts of justice, or men of law, was not at that time totally eradicated from the minds of proprietors and tenants.

III. v. 1. With to: to resemble, to take after in manners, temperament, looks, etc. (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Dmf. 1960).Rxb. 1919 Kelso Chron. (14 March) 4:
It is said that most boys “kind” to the mother's side — inherit the tendencies of the mother.Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 13:
Thon wainch keinds ti ir mither's seide o the hoose.

2. To assort (articles, objects, etc.), arrange in kinds (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 13; Lth., Rxb. 1960).

IV. adv., as an adj. suff.: = Eng. -ish, somewhat, rather, in some degree. Gen.Sc.Ayr. 1786 Burns Ep. to J. Lapraik iv.:
They tauld me 'twas an odd kind chiel About Muirkirk.Mry. 1865 W. H. L. Tester Poems 141:
I've been mistaen, for I'm dull kin', ye ken.Abd. 1898 J. R. Imray Sandy Todd xi.:
She was sae fluchtit kin' the haill foreaneen that I didna ken fat tae mak' o' her.Abd. 1909 G. Greig Mains's Wooin' 11:
Ye'll be owre prosaic and maitter-o'-fac' kin'.Mry. 1927 E. B. Levack Lossiemouth 14:
They got mair composed kin'.