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504 entries found
kef (n.)
"state of dreaming intoxication produced by smoking cannabis," 1808, from Arabic kaif "well-being, good-humor; dolce far niente." In Morocco and Algeria, it was said to be the name for Indian hemp.
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keg (n.)
1630s, earlier kag (mid-15c.), from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse kaggi "keg, cask," of unknown origin. Cognate with Swedish kagge, Norwegian kagg. Specific sense of "small or half barrel of beer" is from 1945. U.S. student slang kegger "party featuring a keg of beer" attested by 1969.
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keister (n.)
"buttocks," 1931, perhaps transferred from the same word in an underworld meaning "safe, strongbox" (1914), earlier "a burglar's toolkit that can be locked" (1881); probably from British dialect kist (northern form of chest (n.)) or its German cognate Kiste "chest, box." The connection of the word to the body part might be via the pickpocket slang sense of "rear trouser pocket" (1930s).
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keld (n.)
"a spring," 1690s, limited to northern dialect, but frequent in place names; from Old Norse kelda "a well, fountain, spring," also "a deep, still, smooth part of a river," from a Germanic verbal root represented by German quellen "to swell, spring, gush."
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Kellogg 
surname, attested from late 13c. (Gilbert Kelehog), literally "kill hog," a name for a butcher (compare kill-buck, a medieval surname, also noted as a term of contempt for a butcher). The U.S. cereal company began in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1906, founded by W.K. Kellogg (1860-1951), business manager of the Battle Creek Sanatorium, as Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company.
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Kelly 
common Irish surname, from Old Irish ceallach "war." As a type of pool played with 15 balls, it is attested from 1898. Kelly green first recorded 1917.
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keloid (n.)

also cheloid, 1854, from French kéloïde, from Greek khēlē "crab claw, talon, cloven hoof" + -oides (see -oid). Related: Keloidal; cheloidal.

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kelp (n.)
1660s, "large seaweed," from Middle English culpe (late 14c.), a word of unknown origin. Specifically of a type of Pacific seaweed of the Americas from 1834. Kelper "native or inhabitant of the Falkland Islands" is attested from 1896.
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kelpie (n.)
1747, Scottish, of unknown origin, perhaps related to Gaelic colpach "heifer, steer, colt;" colpa "cow, horse." The Lowland name of a demon in the shape of a horse that was reputed to haunt lakes and rivers and to delight in causing drownings. But unlike its equivalents in Danish (nøkken) and Icelandic (nykur), it occasionally was benevolent, especially to millers by keeping their streams running.
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Kelvin 
unit of absolute temperature scale, 1911, in honor of British physicist Sir William Thompson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907).
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