K

See also: k and Appendix:Variations of "k"

K U+004B, K LATIN CAPITAL LETTER K ← J [U+004A] Basic Latin L → [U+004C]

K U+212A, K KELVIN SIGN ← ℩ [U+2129] Letterlike Symbols Å → [U+212B]

Ｋ U+FF2B, Ｋ FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER K ← Ｊ [U+FF2A] Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms Ｌ → [U+FF2C]

Contents

TranslingualEdit

LetterEdit

K (lower case k)

1. 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

1. (chemistry) Symbol for potassium.
2. Symbol for kelvin, the SI unit of thermodynamic temperature. Specifically (U+212A version)
3. (biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for lysine.
4. (geology) Symbol for hydraulic conductivity.
5. Thousand.

   5k = 5,000

6. (radio slang) over, waiting for reply

GalleryEdit

• Letter styles
• 

  Capital and lowercase versions of K, in normal and italic type

• 

  Uppercase and lowercase K in Fraktur

See alsoEdit

Other representations of K:

NATO phonetic: Kilo Morse code: –·– Braille: ⠅ ASL Manual: K

Signal flag:

Semaphore:

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EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /kʰeɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

LetterEdit

K (upper case, lower case k, plural Ks or K's)

1. 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).

See alsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) letter; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

NumberEdit

K (upper case, lower case k)

1. The ordinal number eleventh, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called kay and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2Edit

AbbreviationEdit

K

1. (education, US) Kindergarten.

   "K-8" is Kindergarten through eighth grade.

2. (computing, often) Kilo-, 1,024.
3. (computing) A single character message used as an acknowledgement (ACK), meaning "previous message received and understood."
4. (Morse code) Go ahead, over: an indication that a message is complete and a reply is awaited.
5. (baseball) Strikeout, strikeouts.
6. (chess) King.
7. (biology) Carrying capacity.
8. (slang) OK.
9. (knitting) 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.

10. (slang) The drug ketamine.

Usage notesEdit

On a baseball scorecard, a frontwards K signifies striking out swinging, while a backwards K signifies striking out looking.

Derived termsEdit

• (ketamine): K-hole, special K

NounEdit

K (plural Ks)

1. (law, informal) A contract.

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AfarEdit

LetterEdit

K

1. The seventh letter in the Afar alphabet.

See AlsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, T t, S s, E e, C c, K k, X x, I i, D d, Q q, R r, F f, G g, O o, L l, M m, N n, U u, W w, H h, Y y

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American Sign LanguageEdit

LetterEdit

(transliteration needed) (Stokoe K)

1. The letter K

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AzerbaijaniEdit

LetterEdit

K upper case (lower case k)

1. The sixteenth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) hərf; A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, Ə ə, F f, G g, Ğ ğ, H h, X x, I ı, İ i, J j, K k, Q q, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, V v, Y y, Z z

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ChineseEdit

PronunciationEdit

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kēi, kèi (kei¹, kei⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄟ, ㄎㄟˋ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: kēi
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄟ
    • Wade–Giles: k'ei¹
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kei
    • IPA ^(key): /kʰeɪ̯⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: kèi
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄟˋ
    • Wade–Giles: k'ei⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: key
    • IPA ^(key): /kʰeɪ̯⁵¹/

DefinitionsEdit

K

1. Alternative form of 剋 (“to beat; to scold; to fight”).
2. Short for 卡拉OK (kǎlā'ōukèi, “karaoke”).
3. (Internet slang) Short for 擴／扩 (kuò, “to repost”).
4. (slang) Short for K粉 (kēifěn, “ketamine”).
5. thousand; kilo
6. (computing) kilobyte
7. karat

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DutchEdit

PronunciationEdit

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ka/

• Audio

  (file)

LetterEdit

K (capital, lowercase k)

1. The eleventh letter of the Dutch alphabet.

See alsoEdit

• Previous letter: J
• Next letter: L

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EsperantoEdit

LetterEdit

K (upper case, lower case k)

1. The fifteenth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called ko and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) litero; A a, B b, C c, Ĉ ĉ, D d, E e, F f, G g, Ĝ ĝ, H h, Ĥ ĥ, I i, J j, Ĵ ĵ, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, R r, S s, Ŝ ŝ, T t, U u, Ŭ ŭ, V v, Z z

ConjunctionEdit

K

1. (text messaging) Abbreviation of kaj (“and”).

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FinnishEdit

LetterEdit

K (upper case, lower case k)

1. The eleventh letter of the Finnish alphabet, called koo and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) kirjain; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z, Ž ž, Å å, Ä ä, Ö ö

---

GermanEdit

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /kaː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aː

LetterEdit

K (upper case, lower case k)

1. The eleventh letter of the German alphabet.

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German Sign LanguageEdit

EtymologyEdit

Related to the French Sign Language sign for "K".

ProductionEdit

This one-handed GSL sign is produced as follows:

• Posture the dominant hand in the “K” shape.

LetterEdit

(transliteration needed)

1. the letter K

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HungarianEdit

Compass rose

EtymologyEdit

Abbreviation of kelet (“east”).

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɛlɛt]

NounEdit

K

1. E (east)

See alsoEdit

• észak (É), dél (D), kelet, nyugat (Ny)

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IdoEdit

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /k/

LetterEdit

K (lower case k)

1. The eleventh letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) litero; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

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ItalianEdit

PronunciationEdit

• (name of letter) IPA^(key): /ˈkappa/
• (phonetic realization) IPA^(key): [k]

LetterEdit

K m, f (invariable, lower case k)

1. 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

• (Latin-script letters) lettera; A a (À à), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Πî, J j, K k), L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù), V v (W w, X x, Y y), Z z
• Italian alphabet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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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

• IPA^(key): [k]

(file)

LetterEdit

K

K (upper case, lower case k)

1. The sixteenth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called kā and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

• Letters of the Latvian alphabet:

  burti: Aa, Āā, Bb, Cc, Čč, Dd, Ee, Ēē, Ff, Gg, Ģģ, Hh, Ii, Īī, Jj, Kk, Ķķ, Ll, Ļļ, Mm, Nn, Ņņ, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Ūū, Vv, Zz, Žž

---

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

1. The eleventh letter of the Malay 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, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

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PortugueseEdit

LetterEdit

K (upper case, lower case k)

1. The eleventh letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á, À à,  â, àã), B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e (É é, Ê ê), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ô ô, Õ õ), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

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RomanianEdit

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /ka/

LetterEdit

K (lowercase k)

1. The fourteenth letter of the Romanian alphabet, mostly used in foreign words to represent the phoneme /k/. Preceded by J and followed by L.

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SaanichEdit

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /k̠ʼ/

LetterEdit

K

1. The fourteenth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) A, Á, Ⱥ, B, C, Ć, Ȼ, D, E, H, I, Í, J, K, Ꝁ, Ꝃ, ₭, Ḵ, Ḱ, L, Ƚ, M, N, Ṉ, O, P, Q, S, Ś, T, Ⱦ, Ṯ, Ŧ, U, W, W̲, X, X̲, Y, Z, s, ,

---

Skolt SamiEdit

PronunciationEdit

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /k/

LetterEdit

K (lower case k)

1. The eighteenth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) bukva; A a,  â, B b, C c, Č č, Ʒ ʒ, Ǯ ǯ, D d, Đ đ, E e, F f, G g, Ǧ ǧ, Ǥ ǥ, H h, I i, J j, K k, Ǩ ǩ, L l, M m, N n, Ŋ ŋ, O o, Õ õ, P p, R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, V v, Z z, Ž ž, Å å, Ä ä, ʹ

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SloveneEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

K (capital, lowercase k)

1. The 12th letter of the Slovene alphabet. Preceded by J and followed by L.

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SomaliEdit

PronunciationEdit

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /k/
• (letter name): IPA^(key): /kæːf/

LetterEdit

K upper case (lower case k)

1. The sixteenth letter of the Somali alphabet, called kaaf and written in the Latin script.

Usage notesEdit

1. The sixteenth letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by Q and followed by L.

See alsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) ', B b, T t, J j, X x, Kh kh, D d, R r, S s, Sh sh, Dh dh, C c, G g, F f, Q q, K k, L l, M m, N n, W w, H h, Y y, A a, E e, I i, O o, U u

---

SpanishEdit

LetterEdit

K (upper case, lower case k)

1. The eleventh letter of the Spanish alphabet.

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TurkishEdit

LetterEdit

K (upper case, lower case k)

1. The fourteenth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called ke and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

• (Latin-script letters) harf; A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, F f, G g, Ğ ğ, H h, I ı, İ i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, V v, Y y, Z z

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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

LetterEdit

K (upper case, lower case k)

1. The thirteenth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called ca and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

• (Quốc ngữ letters) chữ; A a (À à, Ả ả, àã, Á á, Ạ ạ), Ă ă (Ằ ằ, Ẳ ẳ, Ẵ ẵ, Ắ ắ, Ặ ặ),  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

From English K, from Kelvin

NounEdit

K

1. 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

1. cancer

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ZuluEdit

LetterEdit

K (upper case, lower case k)

1. The eleventh letter of the Zulu 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, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z