krewny

Krewny is a Polish noun meaning a relative, typically a person connected by blood or kinship. The masculine form is krewny, the feminine form krewna, with plural krewni for mixed or male relatives and krewne for female relatives. The term is used in everyday language as well as in genealogical and formal contexts to denote members of a family.

Etymology and sense: krewny comes from the Polish root krew, meaning blood, reflecting the idea of family ties through blood kinship. The related noun pokrewieństwo denotes kinship or degree of relation and is used in legal and genealogical discussions to describe how closely two people are related.

Scope and distinctions: krewny generally refers to relatives by blood and does not cover spouses or partners by marriage, who are described with separate terms. In practice, speech can extend the sense to more distant family members, but precision is often achieved with specific terms (for example, aunt, uncle, cousin) or by using phrases like “krewni ze strony matki” (relatives on the mother's side) or “najbliższy krewny” (closest relative).

Usage in law and genealogy: In inheritance and legal contexts, kinship is described in degrees and lines of relation (lineal, collateral) using the concept of pokrewieństwo. In genealogical research, krewny is a core term for identifying and describing family connections, helping to construct family trees and understand ancestry.

See also: pokrewieństwo, genealogia, drzewo genealogiczne.