An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Kinn

by Friedrich Kluge

Kinn, neuter, ‘chin,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kin, kinne, Old High German chinni, neuter (also ‘jaw’). The older meaning, ‘cheek’ (Gothic kinnus, feminine, ‘cheek’), has been preserved in Kinnbein, ‘cheek-bone,’ in Old High German chinnizan, Middle High German kinnezan, ‘molar tooth,’ Old High German kinnibaccho, ‘jawbone’; compare Anglo-Saxon čin, English chin, Anglo-Saxon činbân, English chin-bone, Modern Dutch kin, feminine, ‘chin’; Old Icelandic kinn, ‘cheek.’ Compare Greek γένυς, feminine, ‘chin, jaw, jawbone,’ also ‘edge of an axe, axe,’ γένειον, neuter, ‘chin, jaw,’ γενείας, feminine, ‘chin, beard’; Latin gena, ‘cheek,’ dentes genuini, ‘molar teeth’; Irish gin, ‘mouth’; Sanscrit hánu-s, feminine, ‘jaw,’ hanavýa, ‘jawbone.’ Hence the meaning varies considerably between cheek, jaw, chin; the primary sense of the root gen in this term cannot be ascertained. On account of the Greek meaning ‘axe’ some deduce the word from a root gen, ‘to cut to pieces.’