K
See also: k and Appendix:Variations of "k"
 | ||||||||
| ||||||||
 | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
TranslingualEdit
EtymologyEdit
From the Etruscan letter 𐌊 (k, “ka”), from the Ancient Greek letter Κ (K, “kappa”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤊 (k, “kap”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓂧.
LetterEdit
K (lower case k)
- The eleventh letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.
See alsoEdit
- (Latin script): Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Sſs Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
- (Variations of letter K): Ḱḱ Ǩǩ Ķķ Ḳḳ Ḵḵ Ƙƙ Ⱪⱪ ᶄᶄ Ꝁꝁ ᴋ Ｋｋ
SymbolEdit
K
- (chemistry) Symbol for potassium (Latin kalium).
- Symbol for kelvin, the SI unit of thermodynamic temperature. Specifically (U+212A version)
- (biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for lysine.
- (geology) Symbol for hydraulic conductivity.
- Abbreviation of kilo (thousand).
- 5k = 5,000
- (radio slang) over, waiting for reply
- (linguistics) A wildcard for a velar consonant
GalleryEdit
- Letter styles
-
Uppercase and lowercase versions of K, in normal and italic type
-
Uppercase and lowercase K in Fraktur
See alsoEdit
Other representations of K:
EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k, plural Ks or K's)
- The eleventh letter of the English alphabet, called kay and written in the Latin script.
- 1876, "C" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 616:
- The symbol K, however, was not entirely lost; it is found irregularly in inscriptions of all dates down to the times of the empire, and regularly as an initial abbreviation of Kalendæ, Karthago, Kæso (the proper name).
- 1876, "C" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 616:
See alsoEdit
- (Latin script letters) letter; Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz
NumberEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The ordinal number eleventh, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called kay and written in the Latin script.
Etymology 2Edit
Abbreviations.
- (stenoscript) Abbreviation of counter, prefix counter-, sequence contr.
NounEdit
K (plural Ks)
- (law, informal) Abbreviation of contract.
- (education, US) Abbreviation of kindergarten.
- "K-8" is Kindergarten through eighth grade.
- (often computing) Abbreviation of kilo-, 1,024.
- 5k = 5,000
- (computing) A single character message used as an acknowledgement (ACK), meaning "previous message received and understood."
- (Morse code) Abbreviation of go ahead, over, an indication that a message is complete and a reply is awaited.
- (baseball) Abbreviation of strikeout. On a baseball scorecard, a frontwards K signifies striking out while swinging the bat, while a backwards K signifies striking out while looking.
- (card games, chess) Abbreviation of king.
- (biology) Abbreviation of carrying capacity.
- (geology) Abbreviation of Cretaceous.
- (slang) Short for OK.
- (knitting) Abbreviation of knit.
- 1855, Godey's Magazine (volume 51, page 71)
- Knit 3, p 1, k 2, purl 1, k 2, m 1, k 2 together, k 1.
- 1855, Godey's Magazine (volume 51, page 71)
- (slang) Abbreviation of ketamine (a drug).
- 1978, John C. Lilly, “Seduction by K”, in The Scientist, Philadelphia: Lippincott, →ISBN, page 167:
- At high levels of concentration of K in the blood, the observer/operator is cut off from his interlock with e.r., including the human consensus reality.
- (music) Abbreviation of Köchel number.
- Die Zauberflöte, K. 620
- (UK, government) Abbreviation of Knighthood.
- (economics) Abbreviation of capital.
- (printing) Abbreviation of black.
- (slang, from Jamaican Creole) Abbreviation of Kalashnikov.
- 2011 August 16, “My People”[2], performed by Kendrick Lamar,Jay Rock:
- We used to run from the KKK but now we runnung from our brothers that be holding them K's.
- 2019 November 22, “Payback”, in Netflix&Deal[4], performed by 03 Greedo,Kenny Beats,OhGeesy,Judge:
- Keep the chopper, I'ma spray that. This is an AR, don't keep the K, man.
- 2022 June 4, “OVO”[5], performed by Big Yavo:
- A fuck nigga diss GG, he get hit with a K. I'll be back in the morning, just went to the A.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
playing card
Etymology 3Edit
Clipping of OK.
InterjectionEdit
K
- (colloquial, text messaging, Internet slang) OK
- 2019, Justin Blackburn, The Bisexual Christian Suburban Failure Enlightening Bipolar Blues, page 23:
- K, dad, I'll go to my room.
- Synonym: 'kay
Usage notesEdit
"K" usually implies apathy or anger towards the statement it is responding to,[1] in a more emphatic way than "k".
ReferencesEdit
AfarEdit
LetterEdit
K
- The seventh letter in the Afar alphabet.
See alsoEdit
AfrikaansEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The eleventh letter of the Afrikaans alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
- (Latin-script letters) letter; Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz
NounEdit
AngamiEdit
LetterEdit
K
- The thirteenth letter of the Angami alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
AzerbaijaniEdit
LetterEdit
K upper case (lower case k)
- The sixteenth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
BasqueEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The eleventh letter of the Basque alphabet, called ka and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
Central FranconianEdit
EtymologyEdit
- /k/ is from West Germanic stem-initial or geminated *k; from *k in nk, lk, rk; in most of Moselle Franconian from *gg.
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K
- A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
- A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
Usage notesEdit
Doubling of K
- In the German-based spelling, doubling of k yields ck. This is used after short vowels except in certain function words and when the letter is followed by another consonant within the word stem.
- In the Dutch-based spelling, doubling of k yields kk. This is used after short vowels if the syllable were otherwise open.
ChineseEdit
Etymology 1Edit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
K
Etymology 2Edit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
K
- Short for 卡拉OK (kǎlā'ōukèi, “karaoke”).
- 唱K所 [Shanghainese] ― [t͡sʰɑ̃³³ kʰe̞⁵⁵ sv̩ʷ²¹] [IPA] ― karaoke bar
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 3Edit
Initialism of 擴／扩 (kuò), based on its pinyin.
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
K
Etymology 4Edit
From English K, abbreviation of ketamine.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
K
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 5Edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
PronunciationEdit
NumeralEdit
K
NounEdit
K
Etymology 6Edit
Abbreviation of English kilobyte.
PronunciationEdit
ClassifierEdit
K
Etymology 7Edit
From English K, abbreviation of karat.
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
K
Etymology 8Edit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
K
Etymology 9Edit
From the letter K of the English pattern playing cards. In the spoken language, its name is generally a borrowing from English king into the related dialect.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
K
Etymology 10Edit
Pronunciation 1Edit
LetterEdit
K
- The eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet.
Pronunciation 2Edit
LetterEdit
K
- The eleventh letter used in Pinyin.
Usage notesEdit
- 《汉语拼音方案》 defines a standard pronunciation for each letter. However, these pronunciations are rarely used in education; another pronunciation is commonly used instead.
- The pronunciation above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other context (such as English).
DutchEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (capital, lowercase k)
- The eleventh letter of the Dutch alphabet.
See alsoEdit
EsperantoEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The fifteenth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called ko and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
- (Latin script letters) litero; Aa, Bb, Cc, Ĉĉ, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ĝĝ, Hh, Ĥĥ, Ii, Jj, Ĵĵ, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Ŝŝ, Tt, Uu, Ŭŭ, Vv, Zz
ConjunctionEdit
K
- (text messaging) Abbreviation of kaj (“and”).
EstonianEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The eleventh letter of the Estonian alphabet, called kaa and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
FinnishEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The eleventh letter of the Finnish alphabet, called koo and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
GermanEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The eleventh letter of the German alphabet.
Usage notesEdit
- Doubling of k generally yields ck, but kk is used in loanwords originally spelt with cc.
HungarianEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Abbreviation of kelet (“east”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
K
DeclensionEdit
| Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony) | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| nominative | K | — |
| accusative | K-et | — |
| dative | K-nek | — |
| instrumental | K-tel | — |
| causal-final | K-ért | — |
| translative | K-té | — |
| terminative | K-ig | — |
| essive-formal | K-ként | — |
| essive-modal | — | — |
| inessive | K-ben | — |
| superessive | K-en | — |
| adessive | K-nél | — |
| illative | K-be | — |
| sublative | K-re | — |
| allative | K-hez | — |
| elative | K-ből | — |
| delative | K-ről | — |
| ablative | K-től | — |
| non-attributive possessive - singular |
K-é | — |
| non-attributive possessive - plural |
K-éi | — |
| Possessive forms of K | ||
|---|---|---|
| possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
| 1st person sing. | K-em | — |
| 2nd person sing. | K-ed | — |
| 3rd person sing. | K-e K-je |
— |
| 1st person plural | K-ünk | — |
| 2nd person plural | K-etek | — |
| 3rd person plural | K-ük K-jük |
— |
Coordinate termsEdit
(compass points) égtájak;
| északnyugat (ÉNy) | észak (É) | északkelet (ÉK) |
| nyugat (Ny) | 
|
kelet (K) |
| délnyugat (DNy) | dél (D) | délkelet (DK) |
Etymology 2Edit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The eighteenth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called ká and written in the Latin script.
DeclensionEdit
| Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony) | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| nominative | K | K-k |
| accusative | K-t | K-kat |
| dative | K-nak | K-knak |
| instrumental | K-val | K-kkal |
| causal-final | K-ért | K-kért |
| translative | K-vá | K-kká |
| terminative | K-ig | K-kig |
| essive-formal | K-ként | K-kként |
| essive-modal | — | — |
| inessive | K-ban | K-kban |
| superessive | K-n | K-kon |
| adessive | K-nál | K-knál |
| illative | K-ba | K-kba |
| sublative | K-ra | K-kra |
| allative | K-hoz | K-khoz |
| elative | K-ból | K-kból |
| delative | K-ról | K-król |
| ablative | K-tól | K-któl |
| non-attributive possessive - singular |
K-é | K-ké |
| non-attributive possessive - plural |
K-éi | K-kéi |
| Possessive forms of K | ||
|---|---|---|
| possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
| 1st person sing. | K-m | K-im |
| 2nd person sing. | K-d | K-id |
| 3rd person sing. | K-ja | K-i |
| 1st person plural | K-nk | K-ink |
| 2nd person plural | K-tok | K-itok |
| 3rd person plural | K-juk | K-ik |
See alsoEdit
IdoEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (lower case k)
- The eleventh letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
IndonesianEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The eleventh letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
ItalianEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (letter name) IPA(key): /ˈkap.pa/
- Rhymes: -appa
- (phonemic realization) IPA(key): /k/
- (phonetic realization of some speakers to distinguish between c and k pronunciations) IPA(key): [kʰ]
LetterEdit
K f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case k)
- the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet, called cappa or kappa in Italian
Usage notesEdit
- The letter K is not considered part of the Italian alphabet and is found only in loanwords.
See alsoEdit
Jamaican CreoleEdit
NounEdit
K (plural Ks)
- Abbreviation of Kalashnikov.
- 2002 November 12, “Like Glue”, in Dutty Rock[6], performed by Sean Paul:
- One ting me haffi tell dem, Dutty got di woody woody. Frontway, backway, dutty K-man have di shooby shooby.
- One thing I have to tell them, I've got an erection, Forwards, backwards, the dirty gunman wielding a Kalashnikov has to shove it, shove it.
- 2008 September 12, “Weh Dem A Go”, in Jamaican Style, Vol.3[7], performed by Vybz Kartel,Jah Vinci:
- 2008 December 27, “Last Man Standing”, in Pon Di Gaza 2.0[8], performed by Vybz Kartel:
- Me get a K from Vagga from De La Vega weh mek Chiney man skin black like naega
- I get a Kalashnikov from my friend Vagga from De La Vega which makes a Chinese man's skin black like a nigga's.
- 2008, “Chiney K”, in Gaza vs Gully EP Part 1[9], performed by Mavado:
- Inna middle day, gun play. Bad man ah beat di Chiney K. Night turn to day, all mama pray. Dem ah beat di Chiney K.
- In the middle of the day, there's gun play. Bad men shoot the Chinese imitation Kalashnikovs. Night turns to day, all mothers pray. They shoot the Chinese (imitation) Kalashnikovs.
LatvianEdit
EtymologyEdit
Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.
PronunciationEdit
| (file) |
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The sixteenth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called kā and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
MalayEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (Name of letter) IPA(key): [ke]
- (Phoneme, Syllable initial) IPA(key): [k]
- (Phoneme 1, Syllable final) IPA(key): [ʔ]
- (Phoneme 2, Syllable final) IPA(key): [k̚]
LetterEdit
K
- The eleventh letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
NupeEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The thirteenth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
PolishEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The fourteenth letter of the Polish alphabet, called ka and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
- (Latin-script letters) A a, Ą ą, B b, C c, Ć ć, D d, E e, Ę ę, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, Ń ń, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, Ś ś, T t, U u, W w, Y y, Z z, Ź ź, Ż ż
Further readingEdit
PortugueseEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The eleventh letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
RomaniEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- (International Standard) The fourteenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
- (Pan-Vlax) The fifteenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
- (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, X x, I i, J j, K k, Kh kh, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Ph ph, R r, S s, T t, Th th, U u, V v, Z z International Standard: (À à, Ä ä, Ǎ ǎ), Ć ć, Ćh ćh, (È è, Ë ë, Ě ě), (Ì ì, Ï ï, Ǐ ǐ), (Ò ò, Ö ö, Ǒ ǒ), Rr rr, Ś ś, (Ù ù, Ü ü, Ǔ ǔ), Ź ź, Ʒ ʒ, Q q, Ç ç, ϴ θ. Pan-Vlax: Č č, Čh čh, Dž dž, (Dź dź), Ř ř, Š š, (Ś ś), Ž ž, (Ź ź).
RomanianEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The fourteenth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called ca or capa and written in the Latin script.
Usage notesEdit
Used only in loanwords and some proper nouns.
See alsoEdit
SaanichEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K
- The fourteenth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
Skolt SamiEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (lower case k)
- The eighteenth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
SloveneEdit
LetterEdit
K (capital, lowercase k)
- The 12th letter of the Slovene alphabet. Preceded by J and followed by L.
SomaliEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K upper case (lower case k)
- The sixteenth letter of the Somali alphabet, called kaaf and written in the Latin script.
Usage notesEdit
- The sixteenth letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by Q and followed by L.
See alsoEdit
SpanishEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- the eleventh letter of the Spanish alphabet
SwedishEdit
PronunciationEdit
- Letter name
- Phoneme
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- the eleventh letter of the Swedish alphabet
SymbolEdit
K
- (SAB system) history
- (dated, county letter) Blekinge
- Synonym: 10
- (dated, 1941) type of beredskapskort (“readiness ration card”) valid until ration cards for any of the individual items are made
AbbreviationsEdit
- Abbreviation of källare, källarplan or källarvåning (“basement level”).
- (card games) Abbreviation of kung (“king”).
- Abbreviation of kallt (“cold”).
- Antonym: V (“warm”)
- Abbreviation of kylskåp (“refrigerator”).
- Coordinate term: F (“freezer”)
- Abbreviation of kontor (“office; office space”).
- Abbreviation of kombinationsbrunn or kopplingsbrunn (“connection vault”).
- Abbreviation of kulvert (“culvert”).
- Abbreviation of kultur (“culture”).
- Abbreviation of klubb (“club; association”).
- (military) Abbreviation of kavalleri (“cavalry”).
TurkishEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The fourteenth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called ke and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
VietnameseEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [kaː˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [kaː˧˧]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [kaː˧˧]
- Phonetic: ca
Etymology 1Edit
From Portuguese K or French K.
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The thirteenth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called ca and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
- (Quốc ngữ letters) chữ cái; A a (À à, Ả ả, Ã ã, Á á, Ạ ạ), Ă ă (Ằ ằ, Ẳ ẳ, Ẵ ẵ, Ắ ắ, Ặ ặ), Â â (Ầ ầ, Ẩ ẩ, Ẫ ẫ, Ấ ấ, Ậ ậ), B b, C c (Ch ch), D d, Đ đ, E e (È è, Ẻ ẻ, Ẽ ẽ, É é, Ẹ ẹ), Ê ê (Ề ề, Ể ể, Ễ ễ, Ế ế, Ệ ệ), G g (Gh gh, Gi gi), H h, I i (Ì ì, Ỉ ỉ, Ĩ ĩ, Í í, Ị ị), K k (Kh kh), L l, M m, N n (Ng ng, Ngh ngh, Nh nh), O o (Ò ò, Ỏ ỏ, Õ õ, Ó ó, Ọ ọ), Ô ô (Ồ ồ, Ổ ổ, Ỗ ỗ, Ố ố, Ộ ộ), Ơ ơ (Ờ ờ, Ở ở, Ỡ ỡ, Ớ ớ, Ợ ợ), P p (Ph ph), Q q (Qu qu), R r, S s, T t (Th th, Tr tr), U u (Ù ù, Ủ ủ, Ũ ũ, Ú ú, Ụ ụ), Ư ư (Ừ ừ, Ử ử, Ữ ữ, Ứ ứ, Ự ự), V v, X x, Y y (Ỳ ỳ, Ỷ ỷ, Ỹ ỹ, Ý ý, Ỵ ỵ)
Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
K
- K (Kelvin)
Usage notesEdit
- Colloquially, even physics and chemistry teachers say "độ K" instead of just "K", despite the fact that there is no độ (“degree”) here like độ C (“degree Celsius”) or độ F (“degree Fahrenheit”).
Etymology 3Edit
NounEdit
K
YorubaEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The twelfth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called kí and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
- (Latin-script letters) lẹ́tà; A a (Á á, À à, Ā ā), B b, D d, E e (É é, È è, Ē ē), Ẹ ẹ (Ẹ́ ẹ́, Ẹ̀ ẹ̀, Ẹ̄ ẹ̄), F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Ī ī), J j, K k, L l, M m (Ḿ ḿ, M̀ m̀, M̄ m̄), N n (Ń ń, Ǹ ǹ, N̄ n̄), O o (Ó ó, Ò ò, Ō ō), Ọ ọ (Ọ́ ọ́, Ọ̀ ọ̀, Ọ̄ ọ̄), P p, R r, S s, Ṣ ṣ, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù, Ū ū), W w, Y y
ZuluEdit
LetterEdit
K (upper case, lower case k)
- The eleventh letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.