"K" Word Origins

Kazuko

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese かずこ (Kazuko).

Kazumi

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese かずみ (Kazumi).

Kazuo

Origin

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation for 喀左.

Ke

Chinese

From the Chinese surname 柯 (Kē).

keagan

Origin

Variant of Keegan.

kealy

Origin

Variant of Keeley.

Keane

Irish

Likely from the Irish surname Ó Catháin, meaning "descendant of Cathán."

Keanu

Origin

Borrowed from Hawaiian Keanu.

Kearney

Irish

From the Irish surname Ó Ceithearnaigh.

Kearns

Irish

An anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Céirín, related to the word ciar, meaning "dark."

kearny

Origin

Borrowed from Irish Ó Ceithearnaigh.

Keaton

Middle English

A variant of Caton or Keeton, possibly derived from a place name in Devon combining Welsh cae ("enclosure") with Middle English toun ("settlement").

Keats

Old English

From a Middle English nickname meaning "kite" (the bird of prey), ultimately from Old English cȳta.

kebab

Arabic

From Arabic kabāb, reaching English partly via Turkish, Persian, and Urdu.

keck

German

Imitative of the retching sound; compare German köken ("to vomit").

Kee

Chinese

Sometimes shortened from McKee, or borrowed from the Hokkien or Teochew pronunciation of the Chinese surname 紀／纪.

Keegan

Irish

From the Irish surname Mac Aodhagáin, meaning "son of Aidan."

keel

Old Norse

From Old Norse kjǫlr, referring to a ship's spine-like base timber.

keeler

Middle English

From Middle English keler, formed from "keel" plus the agent suffix "-er."

Keeley

Irish

Reduced Anglicized from Irish Ó Caollaidhe (“descendant of Caollaidhe”), a personal name based on the adjective caol (“slender, graceful”).

keelhaul

Origin

From Dutch kielhalen (“keelhaul”), from kiel (“keel”) + halen (“fetch; catch”).

keelman

Origin

From keel + -man.

keely

Origin

Variant of Keeley.

keen

Old English

From Old English cēne ("bold, sharp, wise"), a Germanic word related to German kühn ("bold") and, further back, to the root of "cunning" and "can".

Keenan

Irish

From Irish Cianán, a diminutive of Cian.

keener

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

keenly

Middle English

From Middle English kenely, kenliche, from Old English cēnlīċe (“keenly, boldly, courageously”), equivalent to keen + -ly. Cognate with Saterland Frisian köinlik (“boldly”), archaic German kühnlich (“bravely”).

keenness

Origin

From keen + -ness.

keep

Old English

From Old English cēpan ("to seize, observe, take heed of"), a Germanic verb originally about watching and taking care.

keeper

Middle English

From Middle English kepere. By surface analysis, keep + -er.

Keepers

Dutch

Americanized spelling of Dutch Kuipers.

keeps

Origin

From "keep," as in something kept or held onto rather than given back.

keepsake

Origin

A compound of keep and sake, literally "something kept for the sake of" someone or something.

keg

Middle English

From Middle English kag, borrowed from Old Norse kaggi ("keg"), likely once meaning something like "stump" or "bush" before it came to mean a small barrel.

kegful

Origin

From keg + -ful.

kegger

Origin

Formed from keg plus the suffix -er, on the pattern of turning an object into the name of an event built around it.

kei

Japanese

From Japanese kei (軽), meaning "light" or "lightweight", shortened from keijidōsha ("light automobile").

Keiko

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese けいこ (Keiko).

keikogi

Origin

From Japanese 稽古着.

Keira

Irish

A modern feminine form of Kieran, from Irish ciar (“black, dark, little dark one”).

keister

German · 1800

Origin uncertain; first recorded in 19th-century criminal slang meaning a burglar's toolbox, possibly related to the German/Yiddish word Kiste, meaning "box" or "case".

Keith

Origin

* As a Scottish surname, from the placename in Moray, Scotland, from Scottish Gaelic Cèith, meaning "wood" or "from the battleground," which is probably borrowed from Pictish *ᚉᚓᚈ (cēt) meaning "wood", or a forest, from Proto-Brythonic *koɨd. * As a German surname, from Middle High German kit (“sprout, offspring”) (compare kint).

Keller

German

From German Keller, meaning "cellar" or "storehouse".

Kellogg

Origin

Originally a nickname for a butcher, from kill hog.

Kelly

Irish

The name comes from the Irish surname "Ó Ceallaigh." The color and drilling-pipe senses developed later as specialized uses of the name.

kelp

Old English

From Middle English kelpe, of uncertain origin, possibly from Old English roots meaning a lump or swelling, referring to the air-filled bladders on some seaweeds.

Kelso

Middle Welsh

From earlier Calchow, from Middle Welsh Calchvynyð (Modern Welsh Calchfynydd (“lime mountain”)).

kelvin

Origin

Named after the Scottish physicist William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, who helped define the absolute temperature scale.