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504 entries found
kopeck (n.)
coin worth one-hundredth part of a ruble, from Russian kopeika, from kop'e "lance" (cognate with Greek kopis "chopper, cleaver;" see hatchet (n.)); so called because the coin showed the czar with lance in hand.
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kopje (n.)
small hill in South Africa, 1852, earlier koppie (1848), from South African Dutch, diminutive of kop "hill; head" (see kop).
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Koran 
book which contains the Islamic religious and moral code; the standard work of classical Arabic, 1610s, from Arabic qur'an "a reading, recitation, book," from root of quara-a "he read, recited." Related: Koranic.
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Kore 

in Greek mythology, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, also called Persephone in her aspect as Hades's wife, from Greek korē "maiden," from PIE *korwo- "growing" (hence "adolescent"), from suffixed form of root *ker- (2) "to grow."

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Korea 
by 1690s, from Chinese Gao li, name of a dynasty founded 918, literally "high serenity." Japanese Chosen is from Korean Choson, literally "land of morning calm," from cho "morning" + son "calm." Related: Korean (1610s). In early use Corea, Corean.
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kos (n.)
measure of distance in India (about 2 miles), from Hindi kos, from Sanskrit krosah, literally "a call, a shout;" thus, "distance within which a man's shout can be heard."
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kosher (adj.)
"ritually fit or pure, clean, lawful, conforming to the requirements of the Talmud" (especially of food), 1850, in early use also kasher, coshar, from Yiddish kosher, from Hebrew kasher "fit, proper, lawful," from base of kasher "was suitable, proper." Generalized sense of "correct, legitimate" is from 1896.
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kowtow (n.)
also kow-tow, 1804, from Chinese k'o-t'ou custom of touching the ground with the forehead while kneeling as a gesture of respect or submission, literally "knock the head," from k'o "knock, bump" + t'ou "head."
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kowtow (v.)
also kow-tow, 1826 in the figurative sense of "act in an obsequious manner," from kowtow (n.). Literal sense in English is from 1848. Related: Kowtowed; kowtowing.
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kraal (n.)
"village, pen, enclosure," 1731, South African, from colonial Dutch kraal, from Portuguese curral "pen or enclosure for animals" (see corral (n.)).
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