"K" Word Origins

Karnak

Arabic

From Arabic قرية and نَقِ (naqi) meaning fortified city.

Karnataka

Origin

From Kannada Karnataka, generally understood to combine karu ("elevated") and nadu ("land"), though other origins have been proposed.

Karp

German

As a German, Polish, or Jewish surname, from Yiddish/German Karpfen, "carp" (the fish). In some cases it developed from Greek saint names meaning "fruit-bearing."

Kasey

Origin

A respelling of Casey.

Kash

Origin

A respelling of Cash.

kasher

Origin

Borrowed from Yiddish כּשרן (kashern), from כּשר (kosher, “kosher”).

Kashi

Persian

From the Mandarin Chinese romanization Kāshí, a shortened form ultimately tracing back through Manchu and Oirat to the Persian name for Kashgar.

Kashiwagi

Japanese

Borrowed from the Japanese surname 柏木 (Kashiwagi), literally "oak tree."

Kashmir

Persian

From Sanskrit kashmira, the origin of the region's name, passed into English through Hindustani and Persian.

kashrut

Origin

Borrowed from Hebrew כַּשְׁרוּת (kashrut).

kassandra

Origin

From Ancient Greek Κασσάνδρα (Kassándra).

Kasumi

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese かすみ (Kasumi), meaning "mist" — similar in spirit to the English name Misty.

kat

Origin

From ancient Egyptian kat.

kata

Japanese · 1950

From Japanese kata, literally "form" or "pattern"; the programming sense is a modern borrowing of the martial-arts term, in English use since the 1950s.

katagelasticism

Origin

Coined by Willibald Ruch and René T. Proyer, assisted by Christian F. Hempelmann and Sean Harrigan, from Ancient Greek καταγελαστής (katagelastḗs, “mocker”), from καταγελάω (katageláō, “to laugh at, jeer at, laugh down”), from κατά (katá, “downwards”) + γελάω (geláō, “to laugh”).

Katagiri

Japanese

A transliteration of the Japanese surname 片桐 (Katagiri).

katakana

Origin

From Japanese 片(かた)仮(か)名(な) (katakana).

katana

Japanese

From Japanese katana ("single-edged sword").

katara

Origin

Borrowed from Hindustani katar ("dagger, sabre").

Katharine

Greek

A spelling of Catherine influenced by the mistaken belief that it came from the Greek word katharos, meaning "pure."

Kathleen

Irish

An English form of the Irish name Caitlín, which itself comes from Catherine.

Kathmandu

Sanskrit

From Nepali, ultimately from Sanskrit words meaning "wood" and "pavilion" — a nod to a temple said to have been built from a single tree.

Kati

Malay

The weight sense comes from the Malay word kati.

katniss

Origin

From a Native American word for the plant, likely from an Algonquian language.

Kato

Japanese

The surname comes from the Japanese characters 加藤 (Katō).

katsu

Japanese

From Japanese, a shortening of katsuretsu, itself an adaptation of the English word "cutlet."

katsudon

Origin

From Japanese カツ丼.

katsura

Japanese

Borrowed from the Japanese word katsura, referring to the tree.

Katya

Russian

A diminutive of Yekaterina/Kateryna, the Russian and Ukrainian forms of Catherine.

Katz

German

Among Jewish families, often explained as an abbreviation of the Hebrew phrase for "righteous priest" (kohén tzédeq). Among German families, it can simply come from the German word Katze, "cat," or from various German place names.

katzenjammer

Origin

Borrowed from German Katzenjammer (“hangover”, literally “the wailing of cats”); a determinative compound formed from Katze (“cat”) + -n- + Jammer (“wailing; lamentation”).

Kauai

Origin

From Hawaiian Kauaʻi; the original meaning is uncertain.

Kaufman

German

Anglicized from German Kaufmann, an occupational surname meaning "merchant" — related to English Chapman.

Kaul

Origin

Borrowed from Kashmiri kaul.

Kavanaugh

Irish

A variant spelling of the Irish surname Kavanagh.

kavya

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit kāvya.

Kawahara

Japanese

From Japanese characters meaning "river" and "plain/field."

Kawai

Japanese

From Japanese 河合 or Japanese 川合.

kawaiiness

Origin

From kawaii + -ness.

Kawashima

Japanese

From Japanese characters meaning "river" and "island."

kaya

Japanese

The tree sense comes from Japanese kaya.

kayak

Origin

Borrowed from an Inuit word meaning roughly "hunter's boat," originally used by Arctic peoples for hunting on water.

Kayla

Origin

A relatively recent coinage, likely inspired by Kay or Michaela, possibly modeled on the name Layla.

Kaylee

Origin · 1900

Coined in the late 20th century, likely blending Kay and Lee, or drawing on the surnames Cayley or Keeley.

kayo

Origin

A spelled-out form of the letters "KO" (knockout).

Kazakhstan

Persian

From Russian Kazakhstan, built from "Kazakh" plus the Persian-derived suffix "-stan," meaning "land of."

kazan

Russian

From Russian казан (kazán), itself from a Turkic word for cooking pot; the city takes its name from the same root.

kazoo

Origin

Likely imitative of the buzzing sound the instrument makes.