kiss

See also: KISS and Kiss

Contents

English

A woman kissing a baby

Pronunciation

• enPR: kĭs, IPA^(key): /kɪs/, [kʰɪs]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪs

Etymology 1

From Middle English kissen, kussen, from Old English cyssan (“to kiss”), from Proto-Germanic *kussijaną (“to kiss”), cognates include Danish kysse, Dutch kussen, German küssen, Icelandic kyssa and Swedish kyssa. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ku, *kus (probably imitative), with cognates including Ancient Greek κύσσω (kússō), poetic form of κύσω (kúsō, “to kiss”), and Hittite [script needed] (kuwassanzi, “they kiss”).

Verb

kiss (third-person singular simple present kisses, present participle kissing, simple past and past participle kissed)

1. (transitive) To touch with the lips or press the lips against, usually to show love or affection or passion, or as part of a greeting.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     He […] kissed her lips with such a clamorous smack, / That at the parting all the church echoed.

   • 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II Scene 2

     I'll kiss thy foot. I'll swear myself thy subject.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175, page 035:

     But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.

2. (transitive, intransitive) To (cause to) touch lightly or slightly; to come into contact.

   The nearside of the car just kissed a parked truck as he took the corner at high speed. 

   His ball kissed the black into the corner pocket.

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     Like fire and powder, / Which as they kiss consume.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Alfred Tennyson

     Rose, rose and clematis, / Trail and twine and clasp and kiss.

3. (intransitive) Of two or more people, to touch each other's lips together, usually to express love or affection or passion.
4. (transitive, archaic) To treat with fondness.

Synonyms

• to kiss each other (3)
• to kiss one another (3)
• See also Thesaurus:kiss

Derived terms

• bekiss
• kissing
• kissle
• kissy

Translations

to touch with the lips

• Abaza: ашӏагвдзра́ (āč̣āg°ʒrā́)
• Abkhaz: агәӡра (āg°ʒrā), агәыдкылара (āg°ədḳəlārā)
• Afrikaans: soen (af)
• Albanian: puth (sq)
• Alemannic German: verschmutza (Alsatian)
• Amharic: ሳመ (samä), መሳም (mäsam)
• Arabic: قَبَّلَ‎ (ar) (qabbala), بَاسَ‎ (bāsa) (colloquial), لَثَمَ‎ (laṯama)

  Egyptian: بَاس‎ (bās)

  Gulf Arabic: باس‎ (bas)

  Moroccan: بَاس‎ (bas)

• Aragonese: besar
• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܢܽܘܫܩܬܳܐ‎, ܢܽܘܫܰܩܬܳܐ‎

• Arapaho: niitén-
• Archi: пӏаъбос (p'áʔbos), баъ-бос (báʔ-bos)
• Armenian: համբուրել (hy) (hamburel), պաչել (hy) (pačʿel) (colloquial)
• Aromanian: bash, bashu
• Assamese: চুমা (suma), পৰশ্ (porox)
• Asturian: besar
• Avar: баизе (baize)
• Aymara: jamp'atiña
• Azerbaijani: öpmək (az)
• Bashkir: үбеү (übew)
• Basque: musu eman
• Belarusian: цалава́ць impf (calavácʹ), пацалава́ць pf (pacalavácʹ)
• Bengali: চুম্বন করা (cumbôn kôra)
• Bislama: kis, kisim, kiskisim
• Breton: pokat (br), bouchañ (br)
• Bulgarian: целу́вам (bg) impf (celúvam), целу́на pf (celúna)
• Burmese: နမ်း (my) (nam:)
• Buryat: таалаха (taalaxa)
• Catalan: besar (ca), petonejar (ca)
• Cebuano: halokan
• Ch'orti': tzuhtzi uti'
• Chamorro: chiku
• Chechen: берташ да̄ха (bertaš dāχa)
• Cherokee: hdawedo’vsga (hdawedo’vsga)
• Cheyenne: -mȧsém, -mȯsém, -mȯsém, -vȯsémohtá, -vȯsémȯsáne (to kiss people)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 接吻 (zip³ man⁵), 嘴嘴 (zeoi² zeoi²)

  Mandarin: 吻 (zh) (wěn), 親 (zh), 亲 (zh) (qīn), 親吻 (zh), 亲吻 (zh) (qīnwěn), 接吻 (zh) (jiēwěn), 親嘴 (zh), 亲嘴 (zh) (qīnzuǐ) (colloquial)

• Choctaw: impuⁿsa
• Chukchi: йыӈок (jyṇok)
• Chuvash: чупту (čuptu)
• Cornish: amma, abma (kw)
• Corsican: basgià (co)
• Crimean Tatar:

  Cyrillic: опмек

  Latin: öpmek

• Czech: líbat (cs) impf, políbit (cs) pf, dát pusu
• Dalmatian: bissuor
• Danish: kysse (da)
• Dutch: kussen (nl), zoenen (nl)
• Egyptian: (sn)
• Emilian: basèr (Bolognese)
• Erzya: паламс (palams), палсемс (palsems)
• Esperanto: kisi
• Estonian: suudlus, suudlema
• Evenki: нюка̄ндя-мӣ (ņukānʒa-mī)
• Faroese: mussa, kyssa
• Finnish: suudella (fi), suukottaa, pussata (fi)
• French: embrasser (fr)
• Friulian: bussâ, bušâ
• Gagauz: öpmää
• Galician: bicar (gl), beixar (gl)
• Gallurese: basgià
• Gamilaraay: yabili
• Georgian: კოცნა (ḳocna), ამბორი (ambori)
• German: küssen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌺𐌿𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kukjan)
• Greek: φιλώ (el) (filó), ασπάζομαι (el) (aspázomai), δίνω φιλί (díno filí)

  Ancient: καταφιλέω (kataphiléō), φιλέω (philéō)

• Greenlandic: kunippaa, kunissivoq
• Guaraní: etũ (h-)
• Hebrew: נישק \ נִשֵּׁק‎ (nishék), נתן נשיקה‎ (natán n'shiká)
• Hiligaynon: halukan
• Hindi: चूमना (hi) (cūmnā), चुम्बन करना (cumban karnā)
• Hungarian: puszil (hu), csókol (hu)
• Hunsrik: kisse
• Icelandic: kyssa (is)
• Ido: kisar (io)
• Indonesian: cium (id), mengecup (id)
• Interlingua: basiar
• Irish: póg (ga) f
• Italian: baciare (it)
• Japanese: キスする (ja) (kisu suru), 口付けする (くちづけする, kuchizuke suru), 接吻する (ja) (せっぷんする, seppun suru), チューする (chū suru)
• Karelian: nopata, ukata, šuuda mučottua
• Kazakh: сүю (süyw), өбу (öbw)
• Khmer: ថើប (km) (thaəp)
• Korean: 입맞추다 (immatchuda), 키스하다 (ko) (kiseuhada), 뽀뽀하다 (ko) (ppoppohada)
• Kuna: wagar ue
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: maç kirin, ramûsandin (ku)

  Sorani: ماچ کردن‎ (ku) (mâch kirdin)

• Kyrgyz: өбүү (ky) (öbüü), өөп коюу (ky) (ööp koyuu)
• Ladino: bezar
• Lao: ຈູບ (chūp), ຫອຍຈູບ, ຈຸມພິດ (chum phit)
• Latgalian: sumynuot, bučuot
• Latin: basiō, ōsculor, suavior
• Latvian: skūpstīt, bučot (lv)
• Ligurian: baijà (Monégasque)
• Limburgish: pune
• Lithuanian: bučiuoti
• Lombard: basà
• Luxembourgish: kussen (lb), këssen (lb), eng Bees ginn
• Macedonian: бакнува impf (baknuva), целива impf (celiva)
• Malay: mencium
• Malayalam: ചുംബിയ്ക്കുക (cumbiykkuka), ഉമ്മ വക്കുക (umma vakkuka)
• Maltese: bies
• Manx: cur paag da, cur smittag da
• Mazanderani: خش‎, خش هداهن‎
• Mirandese: beisar
• Mongolian: үнсэх (mn) (ünseh), озох (mn) (ozoh)
• Navajo: yiyiitsʼǫs
• Neapolitan: vasà
• Nepali: म्वाइँ खानु (mwāĩ khānu)
• Ngazidja Comorian: uɓusu
• Norman: embraichi, baîsi
• North Frisian: taatji (Sylt)
• Northern Sami: cumˈmát
• Norwegian: kysse (no)
• Occitan: baisar, potonar (oc)
• Ojibwe: ojiim
• Old English: cyssan
• Old Frisian: kessa
• Old High German: kussen
• Old Norse: kyssa
• Old Saxon: kussian
• Pashto: چومل‎ (ps) (čumǝ́l), مچول‎ (mačawᶕl)
• Persian: بوسیدن‎ (fa) (busidan), ماچ کردن‎ (mâč kardan)
• Piedmontese: basé
• Polish: całować (pl) impf, pocałować (pl) pf
• Portuguese: beijar (pt)
• Quechua: much'ay, mucai, muzai
• Romanian: săruta (ro), pupa (ro)
• Romansch: bitschar, bitschear, bitschier, bütschar, bütscher
• Russian: целова́ть (ru) impf (celovátʹ), поцелова́ть (ru) pf (pocelovátʹ), целова́ться (ru) impf (celovátʹsja) (of two people, each other)
• Sanskrit: चुम्ब् (sa) (cumb)
• Sardinian: basai, vasare

  Campidanese: basare

  Logudorese: basu m, basare

  Sassarese: bajà

• Scottish Gaelic: pòg f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: љу́бити impf, пољу́бити, целивати impf, поцеливати pf

  Roman: ljúbiti (sh) impf, poljúbiti (sh) pf, celivati (sh) impf, pocelivati pf

• Sicilian: vasari (scn), baciari
• Sinhalese: හාදුව (hāduva)
• Slovak: bozkať impf, pobozkať pf
• Slovene: ljubiti (sl) impf, poljubiti (sl) pf
• Sorbian:

  Lower: póškaś impf, wupóškaś pf, póšknuś pf

  Upper: košić impf, wokošić pf

• Southern Sami: tjuvliestidh, tjånnahtidh
• Spanish: besar (es)

  Old Spanish: besar

• Swahili: -busu (sw), -nonea
• Swedish: kyssa (sv) (passionately), pussa (sv) (lightly)
• Tagalog: halik, hahagkan, halikan
• Tajik: бӯса кардан (büsa kardan), бӯса гирифтан (büsa giriftan), бӯсидан (tg) (büsidan), бӯсса кардан (büssa kardan)
• Tamil: முத்தம் (ta) (muttam)
• Tatar: үбәргә (übärgä)
• Telugu: ముద్దాడు (te) (muddāḍu), చుంబించు (te) (cumbiñcu)
• Thai: จูบ (th) (jùup)
• Tibetan: འོ་བྱེད ('o byed), ཁ་བསྐྱལ (kha bskyal), ཨོའོ་བསྐྱལ (o'o bskyal), འོ་བྱས ('o byas)
• Tupinambá: îurupyter
• Turkish: öpmek (tr)
• Turkmen: öpmek
• Tuvan: ошкаар (oškaar)
• Ukrainian: цілува́ти (uk) impf (ciluváty), поцілува́ти pf (pociluváty)
• Urdu: چومنا‎ (cūmnā), چمبان کرنا‎ (cumban karnā)
• Uyghur: ئۆپمەك‎ (öpmek), بوسە قىلماق‎ (bose qilmaq), لېۋىگە باسماق‎ (lëwige basmaq)
• Uzbek: oʻpmoq (uz), boʻsa olmoq
• Venetian: baxar (vec)
• Vietnamese: hôn (vi), hun (vi)
• Volapük: kidön (vo)
• Võro: suuandminõ
• Walloon: rabressî (wa), båjhî (wa)
• Welsh: cusanu (cy)
• West Frisian: tútsje (fy)
• Westrobothnian: slekj
• Yiddish: קושן‎ (kushn)

to touch lightly

• Esperanto: tuŝeti
• Finnish: hipaista (fi)
• French: effleurer (fr)
• German: küssen (de)
• Greek: ακροφιλώ (akrofiló)
• Hebrew: נָשַׁק‎ (he) (nasháq)

• Indonesian: cium (id)
• Norwegian: kysse (no)
• Portuguese: beijar (pt), raspar (pt)
• Russian: каса́ться (ru) impf (kasátʹsja)
• Turkish: öpmek (tr)
• Walloon: aduzer (wa)

to touch each other’s lips

• Armenian: համբուրվել (hy) (hamburvel), (colloquial) պաչպչվել (hy) (pačʿpčʿvel)
• Bashkir: үбешеү (übešew)
• Belarusian: цалава́цца impf (calavácca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 吻 (zh) (wěn), 親 (zh), 亲 (zh) (qīn), 親吻 (zh), 亲吻 (zh) (qīnwěn), 接吻 (zh) (jiēwěn), (colloquial) 親嘴 (zh), 亲嘴 (zh) (qīnzuǐ)

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} elkaar kussen (nl) , ^{(please verify)} elkaar zoenen (nl)
• Esperanto: kisi unu la alian
• Faroese: mussast, kyssast
• Finnish: suudella (fi)
• French: s'embrasser
• Galician: bicarse
• Georgian: კოცნა (ḳocna), ამბორი (ambori)
• German: ^{(please verify)} sich küssen
• Greek: φιλώ (el) (filó), ασπάζομαι (el) (aspázomai)
• Guaraní: ñehetũ
• Hebrew: התנשק‎ (hitnashék)
• Hiligaynon: haluk
• Hungarian: csókolózik (hu)
• Icelandic: kyssast
• Indonesian: cium (id)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} basiar se
• Italian: baciarsi
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ماچ کردن‎ (ku) (mâch kirdin)

• Latin: basiari
• Latvian: skūpstīties, bučoties
• Lithuanian: bučiuotis

• Luxembourgish: sech kussen, sech këssen
• Macedonian: се бакнува (se baknuva), се бацува (se bacuva)
• Malay: mencium
• Norman: s'embraichi
• Norwegian: kysse (no)
• Persian: بوسیدن‎ (fa) (busidan), لب گرفتن‎ (lab gereftan)
• Polish: całować się (pl)
• Portuguese: beijar-se
• Romanian: se săruta
• Russian: целова́ться (ru) impf (celovátʹsja), поцелова́ться (ru) pf (pocelovátʹsja)
• Sardinian:

  Gallurese: basgiassi

  Sassarese: bajàssi

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: љу́бити се, пољу́бити се

  Roman: ljúbiti se, poljúbiti se

• Slovene: poljubljati se
• Spanish: besarse (es)
• Swedish: kyssas (sv), pussas (sv) (both reciprocal (sv) forms)
• Tagalog: halik
• Telugu: ముద్దాడు (te) (muddāḍu), చుంబించు (te) (cumbiñcu)
• Tupinambá: îoîurupyter
• Turkish: öpüşmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: цілува́тися (uk) impf (ciluvátysja)
• Walloon: si rabressî (wa), si cobetchî (wa)

Etymology 2

From Middle English kis, kys, derived from the verb kissen; compare Middle English cos, cus, from Old English coss, from Proto-Germanic *kussaz.

Noun

kiss (plural kisses)

1. A touch with the lips, usually to express love or affection, or as a greeting.
2. An 'X' mark placed at the end of a letter or other type of message.
3. A type of filled chocolate candy, shaped as if someone had kissed the top. See Hershey's Kisses.

Synonyms

• (touch with the lips): See Thesaurus:buss

Translations

touch with the lips

• Aari: sónqa
• Afrikaans: soen (af), soengroet
• Albanian: puthje (sq) f
• Arabic: قُبْلَة‎ (ar) f (qubla), بَوْسَة‎ f (bawsa), بُوسَة‎ f (būsa) (colloquial)

  Hijazi Arabic: بوسة‎ f (bōsa)

• Armenian: համբույր (hy) (hambuyr)
• Asturian: besu m
• Azerbaijani: öpüş (az)
• Basque: musu (eu), pot (eu), pa (eu)
• Belarusian: пацалу́нак m (pacalúnak)
• Bengali: চুম্বন (cumbôn)
• Breton: pok (br) m
• Bulgarian: целувка f (celuvka)
• Burmese: နမ်း (my) (nam:), နမ်းစုတ်ခြင်း (nam:cuthkrang:)
• Catalan: petó (ca) m, bes (ca) m, besada (ca) f
• Chechen: ба (ba)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 吻 (zh) (wěn), 親 (zh), 亲 (zh) (qīn), 親吻 (zh), 亲吻 (zh) (qīnwěn), 接吻 (zh) (jiēwěn), 親嘴 (zh), 亲嘴 (zh) (qīnzuǐ)

• Cornish: bay m
• Czech: polibek (cs) m, pusa (cs) f
• Dalmatian: biss m
• Danish: kys (da)
• Dutch: kus (nl), zoen (nl)
• Esperanto: kiso (eo)
• Estonian: suudlus
• Finnish: suukko (fi), suudelma (fi), pusu (fi)
• French: baiser (fr) m, bisou (fr) m, bécot (fr) m, bec (fr) m (Quebec), bise (fr) f
• Friulian: bussade f
• Galician: bico (gl) m, beixo (gl) m
• Georgian: კოცნა (ḳocna), ამბორი (ambori)
• German: Kuss (de) m, Busserl (de) n
• Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐍃 f (frijōns), 𐌲𐌰𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐍃 f (gafrijōns)
• Greek: φιλί (el) n (filí), ασπασμός (el) m (aspasmós)

  Ancient: φίλημα n (phílēma)

• Guaraní: etũ (h-), ñehetũ
• Gujarati: ચુંબન (cumban)
• Hebrew: נְשִׁיקָה‎ (he) f (neshiká)
• Hindi: चुम्बन (hi) (cumban)
• Hungarian: csók (hu)
• Hunsrik: Kuss m, Schmutz m
• Icelandic: koss (is)
• Indonesian: ciuman (id)
• Interlingua: basio (ia)
• Irish: póg (ga) f
• Isthmus Zapotec: bixiduʼ
• Italian: bacio (it) m
• Japanese: キス (ja) (kisu), 接吻 (ja) (せっぷん, seppun), 口付け (くちづけ, kuchizuke), チュー (chū)
• Kannada: ಮುತ್ತು (kn) (muttu)
• Kazakh: өбісу (öbisw), сүйісу (süyisw)
• Khmer: ថើប (km) (tʰaəp)
• Korean: 입맞춤 (ko) (immatchum), 키스 (ko) (kiseu), 뽀뽀 (ko) (ppoppo)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: maç (ku), ramûsan (ku), paç (ku), bûse (ku)

  Sorani: ماچ‎ (ku) (mâch)

• Kyrgyz: өбүш (ky) (öbüş)
• Ladino: bezo
• Lao: ຈູບ (chūp), ການຈູບ (kān chūp)

• Latin: basium, osculum (la), suavium
• Latvian: skūpsts, buča (lv)
• Lithuanian: bučinys (lt) m, (colloquial) bučkis m
• Luxembourgish: Kuss m, Bees f
• Macedonian: бакнеж m (baknež)
• Malay: ciuman
• Malayalam: ഉമ്മ (ml) (umma), ചുംബനം (ml) (cumbanaṃ), മുത്തം (ml) (muttaṃ)
• Maltese: bewsa f
• Manx: paag f
• Marathi: चुंबन (cumban)
• Mongolian: үнсэлт (ünselt)
• Nepali: म्वाइँ (ne) (mwāĩ)
• Norman: baîsi m
• Norwegian: kyss (no) n
• Old English: coss m
• Old Irish: póc f
• Persian: بوسه‎ (fa) (buse), ماچ‎ (fa) (mâč)
• Polish: pocałunek (pl) m, całus (pl) m
• Portuguese: beijo (pt) m
• Quechua: much'a
• Rohingya: cum
• Romani: chumi
• Romanian: sărut (ro) n, pupic (ro) n
• Romansch: bitsch m, betsch m, bütsch m
• Russian: поцелу́й (ru) m (pocelúj)
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese: basidu, basu

  Logudorese: basidu

• Scottish Gaelic: pòg f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пољубац m

  Roman: poljubac (sh) m

• Sicilian: vasu (scn) m
• Slovak: bozk (sk) m
• Slovene: poljub (sl) m
• Spanish: beso (es) m, ósculo (es) m

  Old Spanish: beso

• Swahili: busu
• Swedish: kyss (sv) c, puss (sv) c
• Tagalog: halikan, humalik, maghalikan
• Tajik: бӯса (büsa), муччӣ (muččī), бӯсса (tg) (büssa)
• Tamil: முத்தம் (ta) (muttam)
• Telugu: ముద్దు (te) (muddu), చుంబనం (te) (cumbanaṃ)
• Thai: การจูบ (th) (gaan-jùup), จูบ (th) (jùup)
• Tupinambá: îurupytera, îoîurupytera
• Turkish: öpücük (tr), buse (tr)
• Turkmen: öpüş, posa
• Ukrainian: поцілу́нок m (pocilúnok)
• Urdu: چمبان‎ (cumban)
• Uyghur: بوسە‎ (bose), ھاببا‎ (habba)
• Uzbek: oʻpich (uz), boʻsa (uz)
• Venetian: baxo (vec) m
• Vietnamese: cái hôn
• Volapük: kid (vo)
• Welsh: cusan (cy) m or f
• West Frisian: tút (fy)
• Yiddish: קוש‎ m (kush)

candy or sweet

• Finnish: suukko (fi)
• Norwegian: pikekyss (no) n

• Russian: безе́ (ru) n (bezé)

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun or verb kiss

• kiss ass, kiss-ass
• kiss my ass/kiss my arse
• ass kissing
• blow a kiss
• French kiss
• good night kiss
• kiss and cry
• kiss and make up
• kiss chase
• kisser
• kiss goodbye
• kissle
• kiss of death
• kiss off
• kiss of life
• kissogram
• kiss someone's ass
• kiss someone's ring
• kiss the gunner's daughter
• kiss the hem of someone's garment
• kiss-up
• kiss up
• soul kiss
• tongue kiss

 

See also

• x
• xo
• xoxo
• xoxoxo
• xxx

Anagrams

• KSIs, Sisk, skis

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɪs/

Noun

kiss

1. pee, wee, tinkle, urine

Declension

Declension of kiss
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	kiss	kisset	—	—
Genitive	kiss	kissets	—	—