"K" Word Origins

kan

Japanese

From Japanese kan, a traditional unit of weight.

kana

Chinese

From Japanese kana, literally "borrowed name/character" — because the symbols were originally Chinese characters repurposed just for their sound.

Kanazawa

Japanese

From Japanese 金沢(かなざわ) (Kanazawa, literally “golden marsh”).

Kandahar

Ancient Greek

From Pashto کندهار (Kandahār, “Alexander, Alexandria”), ultimately from Ancient Greek Ἀλεξάνδρεια (Alexándreia, “Alexandria Arachosia”), the city's ancient name. Doublet of Alexander, Alexandria, Alexandretta, Iskenderun, and Scandaroon.

kane

Irish

The Polynesian sense comes from Māori "kāne," meaning "man"; the surname sense is an Anglicized form of an Irish name.

Kaneda

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 金田 (Kaneda).

Kaneko

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 金子 (Kaneko).

kang

Chinese

The bed sense is from Chinese kang. The slang "to copy" sense is unrelated internet slang of disputed origin, popularised in gaming and modding communities.

kangaroo

Origin

Borrowed from Guugu Yimithirr (an Aboriginal Australian language) gangurru, the name for a particular grey kangaroo species — despite the popular myth, it does not mean "I don’t know."

Kangaroos

Origin

From "kangaroo," Australia’s national animal, used as the team’s nickname.

kanji

Japanese

From Japanese kanji, literally "Han characters" — characters that originated in China during the Han dynasty and were adopted into Japanese writing.

kanna

Afrikaans

From Afrikaans/Khoekhoe kanna, the traditional name for the plant Sceletium tortuosum.

Kannada

Origin

From the Kannada language’s own name for itself, kannada.

Kannan

Origin

Transliteration of Tamil கண்ணன் (kaṇṇaṉ) and Malayalam കണ്ണൻ (kaṇṇaṉ).

kano

Spanish

A clipped form of Amerikano in Tagalog, itself from Spanish americano ("American").

Kansai

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 關西

Kant

German

Borrowed from German Kant.

Kanye

Origin · 2009

Coined after rapper Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, grabbing the microphone to make his own comment.

Kanzaki

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 神崎 (Kanzaki).

kaolin

Origin

From French kaolin, François Xavier d'Entrecolles's irregular romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 高嶺土 /高岭土 (gāolǐngtǔ, “Gaoling earth”), from 高嶺 /高岭 (Gāolǐng, “High Ridge”), a village in Fuliang County, Jingdezhen Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, that became Jingdezhen's primary source of this kind of clay during the early to mid-Qing dynasty.

Kaoru

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese かおる (Kaoru).

Kapil

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit कपिल (kapila).

kapila

Origin

Borrowed from Sanskrit कपिल (kapila).

kappa

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek kappa, the letter name. The internet slang sense is unrelated, taken from "Kappa," the name of a popular sarcasm emote on the streaming platform Twitch.

kaput

French

Borrowed from German kaputt ("broken"), which came from French capot, a term from the card game piquet describing a player who wins no tricks at all.

kara

Origin

From Punjabi kaṛā ("bracelet").

Karachi

Origin

Borrowed from Urdu کراچی (karācī) and Borrowed from Sindhi ڪراچي (karācī) / कराची, from earlier ڪولاچي (kolācī) / कोलाची, named after Mai Kolachi.

Karan

Sanskrit

Derived from Sanskrit कर्ण (karṇa, “Karna”). Doublet of Karna.

karaoke

Japanese

From Japanese karaoke, a blend of kara ("empty") and oke, a shortened form of okesutora ("orchestra") — literally an "empty orchestra" backing track with no vocals.

karate

Japanese

From Japanese karate, literally "empty hand" — originally written with characters meaning "China hand" before being reinterpreted to reflect fighting empty-handed, without weapons.

Kardashian

Origin

From the Armenian surname, later applied more broadly as an adjective describing a certain celebrity lifestyle.

Karen

Origin · 2010

As a slang term, popularized in the 2010s from the given name Karen, which was especially common among women born in the mid-20th century; the mocking usage spread widely through African-American Vernacular English and internet culture.

Kari

Origin

From Norwegian Kari, diminutive of Katrine.

Karim

Arabic

From Arabic كَرِيم (karīm, “noble, generous”).

Karin

Ancient Greek

From Swedish Karin or Danish Karin, a medieval form of Katarina, ultimately from Ancient Greek Αἰκατερῑ́νη (Aikaterī́nē). See also Karen.

Karine

French

Borrowed from French Karine.

Karl

Germanic

From German and Scandinavian Karl, going back to a Germanic root meaning "free man." It is the same word that gives English the name Charles.

Karla

Origin

By surface analysis, Karl + -a.

karlee

Origin

A spelling variant of Carly.

karleigh

Origin

A rare spelling variant of Carly.

karley

Origin

Modern spelling variant of Carly.

karli

Origin

A spelling variant of Carly.

karlie

Origin

A spelling variant of Carly.

Karlsson

Swedish

From Swedish Karlsson, literally "son of Karl" — a close relative of the surnames Carlson and Charlson.

karly

Origin

A spelling variant of Carly.

karma

Sanskrit · 1785

Borrowed from Sanskrit karma ("action, deed"), first used in English in 1785 in an early translation of the Bhagavad Gita.

karmic

Origin

Formed from karma plus the adjective-forming suffix -ic.

Karna

Sanskrit

A transliteration of the Sanskrit कर्ण (karṇa).