Kind
KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra), a word in origin meaning birth, nature, or as an adjective, natural. From the application of the term to the natural disposition or characteristic which marks the class to which an object belongs, the general and most common meaning of " class," genus or species easily develops; that of race, natural order or group, is particularly seen in such expressions as " mankind." The phrase " payment in kind," i.e. in goods or produce as distinguished from money, is used as equivalent to the Latin in specie; in ecclesiastical usage " communion in both kinds " or " in one kind " refers to the elements of bread and wine (Lat. species) in the Eucharist. The present main sense of the adjective " kind," i.e. gentle, friendly, benevolent, has developed from the meaning " born," " natural," through " of good birth, disposition or nature," " naturally well-disposed."
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
