"K" Word Origins

kou

Origin

Borrowed from Hawaiian kou.

Kovac

Origin

From Czech and Slovak Kováč, Slovene Kovač, or Serbo-Croatian Kòvač, all meaning "blacksmith". Doublet of Kovack and Kovach.

Kovach

Origin

From Czech and Slovak Kováč, Slovene Kovač, Serbo-Croatian Kòvač, Hungarian Kovács, Bulgarian ковач (kovač) or Polish Kowacz, all from Slavic words meaning "blacksmith", ultimately from Proto-Slavic *kovati (“to forge”). Doublet of Kovac, Kovack, and Kovacs.

Kovacs

Origin

From Hungarian Kovács, from kovács (“blacksmith”), from Proto-Slavic *kovačь. Doublet of Kovach and Kovack.

Kowalski

Origin

Borrowed from Polish Kowalski.

Kowloon

Cantonese

From Cantonese 九龍 (gau² lung⁴), literally "nine dragons," after its surrounding mountains.

kowtow

Cantonese

From Cantonese 叩頭 (kau tau), literally "knock head" — referring to the forehead striking the ground.

kraal

Origin

From colonial Dutch kraal, from Portuguese curral. Doublet of corral.

Kraft

German

From German Kraft, meaning "strength" — the paper is named for its notable durability.

Kraken

Old Norse

Borrowed from Norwegian kraken, ultimately from Old Norse kraki ("crooked tree, hook"), describing something twisted or hooked like the creature's tentacles.

Krakow

Middle English

From Middle English crakou, crawcow.

Kramer

German

Borrowed from the Dutch and German surname Kramer, meaning "shopkeeper" or "peddler"; the verb sense is a modern coinage inspired by a famously door-bursting sitcom character with that surname.

Krampus

German

Borrowed from German Krampus.

krang

Old English

From Dutch kreng ("a carcass"), related to Old English cringan ("to fall, yield").

krantz

Germanic

Borrowed via Afrikaans krans from Dutch krans, ultimately from a Germanic root meaning "ring" or "circle", referring to a rock wall that curves around a space.

Kraus

German

Borrowed from German Kraus.

Krause

German

Borrowed from German Krause.

Krauss

German

Borrowed from German Krauß.

Kraut

German

From German Kraut, meaning "cabbage", a nod to the German fondness for sauerkraut. The nickname for Germans became widespread during the First and Second World Wars.

kravets

Origin

From Ukrainian кравець (kravecʹ, “tailor”), Belarusian кравец (kravjec, “tailor”), Slovak kravec (“tailor”), or Polish krawiec (“tailor”). Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *kravьcь.

Kravitz

Origin

From a Slavic language, e.g. Belarusian кравец (kravjec, “tailor”), Ukrainian кравець (kravecʹ, “tailor”), Slovak kravec (“tailor”), or Polish krawiec (“tailor”). Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *kravьcь (compare *krojiti (“to cut”)).

krawitz

Origin

From Polish krawiec (“tailor”), Slovak kravec (“tailor”), Belarusian кравец (kravjec, “tailor”), or Ukrainian кравець (kravecʹ, “tailor”). Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *kravьcь.

Kray

Origin

From the German surname, from the noun Krähe (“crow”).

Krebs

Origin

As a German, Alemannic German, and occasionally Danish surname, from the noun Krebs (“crab”).

Kremlin

Russian

From Russian кремль (kremlʹ), originally meaning a fortress inside a city; the Moscow Kremlin became so famous that the word now doubles as shorthand for the Russian government itself.

krill

Norwegian

From Norwegian kril, originally meaning small fry or tiny fish.

kringle

Old Norse

From Danish kringle, tracing back to Old Norse kringla, meaning "ring" or "circle" — a nod to the pastry's twisted, looped shape.

kris

Malay · 1500

Borrowed from Malay keris, and used in English since around the late 1500s.

Krish

Origin

Borrowed from Hindi कृष (kŕṣ), Derived from Hindi कृष्णा (kŕṣṇā).

Krishna

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit कृष्ण (kṛṣṇa), literally meaning "dark" or "black," ultimately traced to an ancient Proto-Indo-European root.

Krishnan

Origin

Borrowed from Tamil கிருஷ்ணன் (kiruṣṇaṉ).

Krista

German

A spelling variant of Christa, a modern short form of Christina, partly borrowed from German Christa.

Kristen

Origin

A spelling variant of Kristin, from Christina, fairly popular in the latter half of the twentieth century.

Kristin

Origin

Borrowed in the 20th century from Norwegian Kristin, a variant of Christina.

Kristina

Origin

A modern Scandinavian spelling variant of Christina

Kroll

Origin

* As a German and Dutch surname, from a nickname meaning "curly (haired);" see curl. * As a German and Polish surname, spelling variant of Krol. * Also as a German surname, from Kröll, from the Germanic personal name Rollo, from Proto-Germanic *hrōþiz (“fame, victory”).

Krueger

Origin

South German and Jewish surname Krüger, from the noun senses Krug (“jug”) and Krug (“inn, pub”). Compare Krug, Kruger.

Krug

Origin

From the German and Jewish surname, from both senses of the noun Krug (“jug”) and Krug (“pub, tavern”). Compare Krueger.

Kruger

German

From German Krüger and Afrikaans Kruger; see Krueger.

Krupa

Origin

* As a Polish, Ukrainian, Carpathian Rusyn, Lower Sorbian and Slovak surname, from the noun krupa (“groats”). Compare Kruppa. * As a Czech surname, variant of Kroupa. * As a Serbo-Croatian surname, from krupa (“sleet, hail”), related to the above.

Krupp

German

Borrowed from German Krupp.

krypton

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek κρυπτός (kruptós), meaning "hidden," plus the "-on" ending used for naming noble gases.

kryptonate

Origin

From krypton + -ate (verb-forming suffix).

kryptonite

Origin

From the fictional radioactive mineral in Superman stories, which is the one substance able to weaken him — itself named after the real element krypton.

ktv

Origin

From Chinese KTV. Late 1980s Taiwanese Pseudo-English initialism from Japanese カラオケ (karaoke) + English TV. Modelled after the earlier MTV "movie TV", which in turn repurposed the initialism from the earlier meaning "music TV", copied from the American cable TV network of that name. This term is chiefly used in mainland China, Taiwan and Cambodia and Chinese speakers globally.

Ku

Origin

Borrowed from Korean 쿠 (ku).

kuai

Origin

Borrowed from Mandarin 膾 /脍 (kuài).

Kuan

Origin

Borrowed from Mandarin 關／关 (guān), Cantonese 關／关 (gwaan1), or Hokkien 關／关 (Koan).