- kef (n.)
[kef 词源字典] - 1808, from Arabic kaif "well-being, good-humor." Specifically, state of dreaming intoxication produced by smoking cannabis; dolce far niente. In Morocco and Algeria, it was the name for Indian hemp.[kef etymology, kef origin, 英语词源]
- kaiser (n.)[kaiser 词源字典]
- "an emperor," Old English casere, fallen from use after Middle English, but revived 1858 in reference to the German emperors of Austria and, after 1870, Germany, from German Kaiser, from Bavarian and Austrian spelling of Middle High German keisar, from Old High German keisar "emperor," an early borrowing of Latin cognomen Caesar. The Germanic and Slavic peoples seem to have called all Roman emperors "caesar" (compare Old English casere, Old Norse keisari). Said to be the earliest Latin loan word in Germanic.[kaiser etymology, kaiser origin, 英语词源]
- kakistocracy (n.)[kakistocracy 词源字典]
- 1829, "government by the worst element of a society," coined on analogy of its opposite, aristocracy, from Greek kakistos "worst," superlative of kakos "bad" (which perhaps is related to the general IE word for "defecate;" see caco-) + -cracy.[kakistocracy etymology, kakistocracy origin, 英语词源]
- kakistocracy (n.)[kakistocracy 词源字典]
- 1829, "government by the worst element of a society," coined on analogy of its opposite, aristocracy, from Greek kakistos "worst," superlative of kakos "bad" (which perhaps is related to the general IE word for "defecate;" see caco-) + -cracy.[kakistocracy etymology, kakistocracy origin, 英语词源]
- kale[kale 词源字典]
- kale: see cauliflower
[kale etymology, kale origin, 英语词源] - kale (n.)
- also kail, c. 1300, alternative form of cawul (c. 1200), surviving in this spelling after Middle English as a Scottish variant of cole "cabbage" (see cole-slaw). Slang meaning "money" is from 1902.
- kaleidoscope (n.)[kaleidoscope 词源字典]
- 1817, literally "observer of beautiful forms," coined by its inventor, Scottish scientist David Brewster (1781-1868), from Greek kalos "beautiful" (see Callisto) + eidos "shape" (see -oid) + -scope, on model of telescope, etc. They sold by the thousands in the few years after their invention, but Brewster failed to secure a patent.
Figurative meaning "constantly changing pattern" is first attested 1819 in Lord Byron, whose publisher had sent him one of the toys. As a verb, from 1891. A kaleidophone (1827) was invented by English physicist Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) to make sound waves visible.[kaleidoscope etymology, kaleidoscope origin, 英语词源]
- kaleidoscope[kaleidoscope 词源字典]
- kaleidoscope: [19] Greek kalós meant ‘beautiful’ (it was related to Sanskrit kalyāna ‘beautiful’). It has given English a number of compound words: calligraphy [17], for instance, etymologically ‘beautiful writing’, callipygian [18], ‘having beautiful buttocks’, and callisthenics [19], literally ‘beauty and strength’. The Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster used it, along with Greek eidos ‘shape’ and the element -scope denoting ‘observation instrument’, to name a device he invented in 1817 for looking at rotating patterns of coloured glass – a ‘beautiful-shape viewer’.
=> calligraphy, callisthenics[kaleidoscope etymology, kaleidoscope origin, 英语词源] - kaleidoscope (n.)
- 1817, literally "observer of beautiful forms," coined by its inventor, Scottish scientist David Brewster (1781-1868), from Greek kalos "beautiful" (see Callisto) + eidos "shape" (see -oid) + -scope, on model of telescope, etc. They sold by the thousands in the few years after their invention, but Brewster failed to secure a patent.
Figurative meaning "constantly changing pattern" is first attested 1819 in Lord Byron, whose publisher had sent him one of the toys. As a verb, from 1891. A kaleidophone (1827) was invented by English physicist Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) to make sound waves visible.
- kaleidoscopic (adj.)[kaleidoscopic 词源字典]
- 1820, from kaleidoscope + -ic. Figurative use by 1855.[kaleidoscopic etymology, kaleidoscopic origin, 英语词源]
- Kali[Kali 词源字典]
- a name of Devi, the Hindu mother-goddess, in her death-goddess aspect, 1798, from Sanskrit kali, literally "the black one," fem. of kalah "blue-black, black," from a Dravidian language. Also taken as the fem. of kala "time" (as destroyer). She is portrayed as black-skinned, blood-smeared, and wearing a necklace of skulls and a girdle of snakes.[Kali etymology, Kali origin, 英语词源]
- K[K 词源字典]
- Roman letter, from Greek kappa, ultimately from Phoenician and general Semitic kaph, said to be literally "hollow of the hand," so called for its shape. For more on the history of its use, see C. As a symbol for potassium, it represents Latin kalium "potash." Slang meaning "one thousand dollars" is 1970s, from kilo-. K as a measure of capacity (especially in computer memory) meaning "one thousand" also is an abbreviation of kilo-. As an indication of "strikeout" in baseball scorekeeping it dates from 1874, said to be from last letter of struck, perhaps because first letter already was being used as abbreviation for sacrifice. The invention of the scorecard symbols is attributed to U.S. newspaperman Henry Chadwick (1824-1908) of the old New York "Clipper."
Smith was the first striker, and went out on three strikes, which is recorded by the figure "1" for the first out, and the letter K to indicate how put out, K being the last letter of the word "struck." The letter K is used in this instance as being easier to remember in connection with the word struck than S, the first letter, would be. [Henry Chadwick, "Chadwick's Base Ball Manual," London, 1874]
[K etymology, K origin, 英语词源] - potassium (n.)
- metallic element, 1807, coined by English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy (1778-1829) from Modern Latin potassa, Latinized form of potash (q.v.). Davy first isolated it from potash. Symbol K is from Latin kalium "potash," from Arabic al-qaliy "the ashes, burnt ashes" (see alkali).