<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> In modern society, the proverb "blood is thicker than water" is used to imply that family relationships are always more important than friends . </P> <P> The equivalent proverb in German (originally: Blut ist dicker als Wasser), first appeared in a different form in the medieval German beast epic Reinhart Fuchs (c. 1180; English: Reynard the Fox) by Heinrich der Glîchezære . The 13th - century Heidelberg manuscript reads in part, "ouch hoer ich sagen, das sippe blůt von wazzere niht verdirbet" (lines 265 - 266). In English we read, "I also hear it said, kin - blood is not spoiled by water ." which may in part due to the high seas being tamed refer to distance not changing familial ties or duties . </P>

Meaning of the idiom blood is thicker than water