kinder (Danish)
Where does "kinder" come from?
The Danish word 'kinder' traces its roots back to Proto-Indo-European terms for the jaw or chin, later evolving through Proto-Germanic into the Old Norse 'kinn'. Over time, the meaning shifted from the skeletal jawbone to the fleshy cheeks we recognize today. As a plural form in modern Danish, 'kinder' remains a direct descendant of this ancient linguistic lineage.
Full etymology tree
- kinder (Danish), 'indefinite plural of kind'
- suffix kind (Danish), 'cheek'
- inherited from kinn (Old Norse), 'cheek'
- inherited from *kinnuz (Proto-Germanic), 'cheek'
- inherited from *ǵénu- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited from *kinnuz (Proto-Germanic), 'cheek'
- inherited from kinn (Old Norse), 'cheek'
- suffix kind (Danish), 'cheek'
Updated March 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris