Kithing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Revealing or showing something so that it becomes known to others, as an archaic or Scottish usage
2. Making a thing plain or visible to people, in the older sense of showing or disclosing it
3. Disclosing or displaying something, a term found in older English and Scots writing

Etymology: "Kithing" is the present participle of "kithe", a verb meaning to make something known, and it traces back to a Germanic root shared with a few words that have quite different fates in English. The Old English form "cȳþan" meant to make known or to declare, and it came from a Proto-Germanic verb "kunþijaną" with the same sense. Its close relatives include "kin" in the sense of family connection, which shares that root and so hints at the older idea of making one's relations or lineage known. Because "kithe" was largely displaced by other words for announcing or revealing, "kithing" is a rare form, surviving mainly in older writing and in dialect and archaic revivals. The word's history is a reminder that the root once supported a whole family of meanings about knowledge and acquaintance, most of which English has since handed over to other verbs.

Synonyms: show, reveal, manifest, display

Antonyms: conceal, hide, obscure