Consanguinyte

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state of being related by blood, or descent from a shared ancestor
2. Kinship between people who share a common ancestor through their parents or grandparents
3. Relationship by birth, meaning that two individuals descend from the same forebear

Etymology: This is an older spelling of "consanguinity," the state of being related by descent from a common ancestor. It comes from Latin "consanguineus," built from "com-," meaning "together," and "sanguineus," "of blood," from "sanguis," blood. A blood relative was, quite literally, someone who shared your blood. English received the word through Old French "consanguinité," and the Latin suffix "-itas," which forms abstract nouns from adjectives, gave it the "-ity" ending. Spellings like this one, with "-y-" and "-e" variants, were common in Middle English before spelling was standardized, so readers would have recognized the same word in several forms.