K

See also: k and Variations of "k"

K - Translingual

Letter

K (lower case k)

The eleventh letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Symbol

(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

Gallery

Letter styles
Uppercase and lowercase versions of K, in normal and italic type
Uppercase and lowercase K in Fraktur

K - English

Pronunciation

IPA: /keɪ/, [kʰeɪ]

Letter

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.

Number

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.

Noun

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.
(slang) Abbreviation of ketamine (a drug).
(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.

Derived terms

(Cretaceous): KPg, KT
(ketamine): K-hole, Special K

Translations

Danish: K (da) (konge)
Dutch: H (nl) (heer)
Estonian: K (et) (kuningas)
French: R (fr) (roi)
German: K (de) (König)
Icelandic: K (köngur)
Polish: K (pl) (król)
Portuguese: R (pt) (rei)
Russian: К (ru) (K) (король)
Swedish: K (sv) (kung)

Interjection

(colloquial, text messaging, Internet slang) OK
- Synonym: 'kay

Usage notes

"K" usually implies apathy or anger towards the statement it is responding to, in a more emphatic way than "k".

K - Afar

Letter

The seventh letter in the Afar alphabet.

K - Afrikaans

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA: /kɑː/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

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

Noun

K (plural K's, diminutive K'tjie)

K - Angami

Letter

The thirteenth letter of the Angami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

K - Azerbaijani

Letter

K upper case (lower case k)

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

K - Basque

Pronunciation

IPA: /ka/, [ka]

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

The eleventh letter of the Basque alphabet, called ka and written in the Latin script.

K - Central Franconian

Pronunciation

IPA: /k/

Letter

A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

Usage notes

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.

K - Chinese

Pronunciation

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): kēi (kei¹)
- (Zhuyin): ㄎㄟ

Verb

Alternative form of 剋 (“to beat; to scold; to fight”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): kēi, kèi (kei¹, kei⁴)
- (Zhuyin): ㄎㄟ, ㄎㄟˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): kei¹
Wu (Wiktionary): ¹khe

Noun

Short for 卡拉OK (kǎlā'ōukèi, “karaoke”).
- 唱K所 [Shanghainese] ― [t͡sʰɑ̃³³ kʰe̞⁵⁵ sv̩ʷ²¹] [IPA] ― karaoke bar

Derived terms

K房 (kēifáng)
K歌 (kēigē)
劈K

唱K (chàngkèi)
唱K所

K場／K场
K壓／K压

Verb

(Internet slang) to repost

Pronunciation

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): kēi, kèi (kei¹, kei⁴)
- (Zhuyin): ㄎㄟ, ㄎㄟˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): kei¹

Noun

(slang) ketamine

Derived terms

K仔

K粉 (kēifěn)

Pronunciation

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): kēi, kèi (kei¹, kei⁴)
- (Zhuyin): ㄎㄟ, ㄎㄟˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): kei¹

Numeral

thousand; kilo

Noun

Pronunciation

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): kēi, kèi (kei¹, kei⁴)
- (Zhuyin): ㄎㄟ, ㄎㄟˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): kei¹

Classifier

(computing, informal) kilobyte

Alternative forms

開／开 (kāi)

Pronunciation

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): kāi (kai¹)
- (Zhuyin): ㄎㄞ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ke¹

Noun

karat

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): ke¹

Noun

(Cantonese) Alternative form of 茄 (ke1, “poop”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): kei, kāi (kei⁵／kei0, kai¹)
- (Zhuyin): ˙ㄎㄟ, ㄎㄞ
Cantonese (Jyutping): king¹

Noun

(card games) king (Classifier: 隻／只; 張／张)

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): kēi (kei¹)
- (Zhuyin): ㄎㄟ
Cantonese (Jyutping): kei¹
Min Nan
- (Hokkien, POJ): khe
- (Teochew, Peng'im): kê⁵
Wu (Wiktionary): ¹khe

Letter

The eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
- (Pinyin): kē, kê̄ (ke¹, kê¹)
- (Zhuyin): ㄎㄜ, ㄎㄝ

Letter

The eleventh letter used in Pinyin.

Usage notes

《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).

K - Dutch

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA: /kaː/

Letter

K (capital, lowercase k)

The eleventh letter of the Dutch alphabet.

K - Esperanto

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA: /ko/
(phoneme): IPA: /k/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

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

Conjunction

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

K - Estonian

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

The eleventh letter of the Estonian alphabet, called kaa and written in the Latin script.

K - Finnish

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

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

K - German

Pronunciation

IPA: /kaː/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

The eleventh letter of the German alphabet.

Usage notes

Doubling of k generally yields ck, but kk is used in loanwords originally spelt with cc.

K - Hungarian

Pronunciation

IPA: [ˈkɛlɛt]

Noun

E (east)

Declension

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 terms

(compass points) égtájak;

északnyugat (ÉNy)	észak (É)	északkelet (ÉK)
nyugat (Ny)		kelet (K)
délnyugat (DNy)	dél (D)	délkelet (DK)

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA: [ˈk]
(letter name): IPA: [ˈkaː]

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

The eighteenth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called ká and written in the Latin script.

Declension

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

K - Ido

Pronunciation

IPA: /k/

Letter

K (lower case k)

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

K - Indonesian

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA: /ka/
(phoneme): IPA: /k/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

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

K - Italian

Pronunciation

(phonemic realization) IPA: /k/
(phonetic realization of some speakers to distinguish between c and k pronunciations) IPA: [kʰ]

Letter

K f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case k)

the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet, called cappa or kappa in Italian

Usage notes

The letter K is not considered part of the Italian alphabet and is found only in loanwords.

K - Jamaican Creole

Noun

K (plural Ks)

Abbreviation of Kalashnikov.

K - Latvian

Pronunciation

IPA: [k]

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

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

K - Malay

Pronunciation

(Name of letter) IPA: [ke]
(Phoneme, Syllable initial) IPA: [k]
(Phoneme 1, Syllable final) IPA: [ʔ]
(Phoneme 2, Syllable final) IPA: [k̚]

Letter

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

K - Nupe

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA: /k/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

The thirteenth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

K - Polish

Pronunciation

IPA: /ka/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

The fourteenth letter of the Polish alphabet, called ka and written in the Latin script.

K - Portuguese

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA: /ˈka/
(Portugal) IPA: /ˈka.pɐ/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

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

K - Romani

Pronunciation

IPA: /k/

Letter

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.

K - Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA: /k/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

The fourteenth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called ca or capa and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Used only in loanwords and some proper nouns.

K - Saanich

Pronunciation

IPA: /k̠ʼ/

Letter

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

K - Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA: /k/

Letter

K (lower case k)

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

K - Slovene

Letter

K (capital, lowercase k)

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

K - Somali

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA: /k/
(letter name): IPA: /kæːf/

Letter

K upper case (lower case k)

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

Usage notes

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

K - Spanish

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

the eleventh letter of the Spanish alphabet

K - Swedish

Pronunciation

Letter name

IPA: /koː/

Phoneme

IPA: /k/, /ɕ/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

the eleventh letter of the Swedish alphabet

Symbol

(SAB system) history
- Meronyms: K.2, K.3, K.4, K.5, K.6, Kc, Kd, Ke, Kf, Kg, Kh, Ki, Kj, Kk, Kl, Km, Kn, Ko, Kt, Ku, Kv, Ky
(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
- Coordinate terms: A, U, X

Abbreviations

Abbreviation of källare, källarplan or källarvåning (“basement level”).
(card games) Abbreviation of kung (“king”).
- Coordinate terms: D (“queen”), Kn (“knight”), E (“ace”)
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”).
- Coordinate terms: A (“sewage”), BP (“fire hydrant”), D (“urban runnoff”), R (“cleaning well”), V (“water main”)
Abbreviation of kulvert (“culvert”).
Abbreviation of kultur (“culture”).
Abbreviation of klubb (“club; association”).
(military) Abbreviation of kavalleri (“cavalry”).

K - Tagalog

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: K
(letter name, Filipino alphabet): IPA: /kej/, [kɛɪ̯]
(letter name, Abakada alphabet, Abecedario): IPA: /ka/, [kɐ]
(phoneme): IPA: /k/, [k]
(phoneme, intervocalic): IPA: /k/, [x]

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k, Baybayin spelling ᜃᜒᜌ᜔)

The eleventh letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Filipino alphabet), called key and written in the Latin script.

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k, Baybayin spelling ᜃ)

The third letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Abakada alphabet), called ka and written in the Latin script.
(historical) The twelfth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Abecedario), called ka and written in the Latin script.

K - Turkish

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA: /c/, /k/
(letter name): IPA: (standard) /ceː/, /kaː/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

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

K - Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA: [kaː˧˧]
(Huế) IPA: [kaː˧˧]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA: [kaː˧˧]
Phonetic: ca

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

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

Noun

K (Kelvin)

Usage notes

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”).

Noun

cancer

K - Yoruba

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA: /k/
(letter name): IPA: /kí/

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

The twelfth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called kí and written in the Latin script.

K - Zulu

Letter

K (upper case, lower case k)

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