Kempt and kept

[David Myer]

Just came across this one in a newspaper article on-line:

On Tuesday afternoon shattered glass from the broken front windows was scattered all over the well-kempt front yard.

It prompted me to explore kempt. Apparently it means well-kept from ME cemd meaning combed.

But this is nearly an orphan-negative these days. Unkempt we read and hear often enough, but kempt is dying. So, well-kempt is probably a malapropism for well-kept.

The question then is: Is well-kempt also a tautology?

And does kept share an ancestry?

[Slava]

They don't appear to be related. Looks to me like kempt stands alone, the well is unnecessary.

[David Myer]

Thanks Slava. I think we agree on this!