Kinship is a biological and/or familial relationship between two organisms.

The word kinship can refer more broadly to any emotional relationship. This can also refer to ideas which are mathematically related.

In its most general sense, kinship can be used in reference to similarity; for instance, a car is akin to a truck. In some cultures, the formal establishment of kinship involves various customs and obligations.

Anthropologists have studied different systems of kinship in a wide variety of cultures; see family.

Related topics

• family
• filial piety
• genealogy
• heredity
• kinship and descent
• Serbian kinship
• taxonomy
• consanguinity