英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

Krebs cycle [Krebs cycle 词源字典]: 1941, named for Sir Hans Adolf Krebs (1900-1981), German-born British biochemist.[Krebs cycle etymology, Krebs cycle origin, 英语词源]
Kremlin: 1660s, Cremelena, from Old Russian kremlinu, later kremlin (1796), from kreml' "citadel, fortress," perhaps of Tartar origin. Originally the citadel of any Russian city, now especially the one in Moscow. Used metonymically for "government of the U.S.S.R." from 1933. The modern form of the word in English might be via French.
kriegspiel (n.): war games played with pieces on maps, 1811 as a German word in English, from German Kriegsspiel, literally "war game," from Krieg "war," from Middle High German kriec, "combat," mostly "exertion, effort; opposition, enmity, resistance," from Old High German chreg "stubbornness, defiance, obstinacy," perhaps from PIE *gwere- (2) "heavy" (see grave (adj.)) or cognate with Greek hybris "violence" (see hubris; also see war (n.)). For second element, see spiel (n.). Introduced 1870s as officer training in British army.
krill (n.): 1907, from Norwegian kril "small fry of fish."
kris (n.): short Malay dagger with a wavy blade, 1570s, said to be a Javanese word.
Krishna: eighth avatar of Vishnu, 1875, from Sanskrit krshnah, literally "the Black One," from PIE *kers-no-, suffixed form of root *kers- "dark, dirty" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic crunu, Russian coron, Serbo-Croatian crn, Czech cerny, Old Prussian krisnas "black," Lithuanian kersas "black and white, variegated").
Kriss Kringle: 1830, Christ-kinkle (in a Pennsylvania German context, and as a reminiscence of times past, so probably at least a generation older in that setting), from German Christkindlein, Christkind'l "Christ child." Properly Baby Jesus, not Santa Claus.
Kristallnacht (n.): in reference to the pogrom of Nov. 9-10, 1938, in Germany and Austria; from German, literally "crystal night;" often translated as "Night of Broken Glass."
krone (n.): name of currency unit and silver coin in Scandinavian countries, 1875, from Danish krone (plural kroner), Swedish krona (plural kronor), literally "crown" (see crown). Also the name of a 10-mark gold piece issued by the German Empire. So called for the devices stamped on them.
kroner (n.): see krone.
Krugerrand (n.): also Kruger rand, 1967, South African gold coin (issued for investment purposes) bearing a portrait of Transvaal President Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (1825-1904); second element is rand, unit of decimal currency introduced in Republic of South Africa 1961, named for The Rand, gold-mining area in Transvaal, short for Witwatersrand (see rand).
krummhorn (n.): also crummhorn, "curved wind instrument," 1864, from German, literally "crooked horn," from krumm "curved, crooked."
Krupp (n.): 1883, gun made at the armaments works in Essen, Germany, founded by German metallurgist Alfred Krupp (1812-1887).
krypton (n.): inert gaseous element, 1898, coined by its discoverers (Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers) from Greek krypton, neuter of adjective kryptos "hidden" (see crypt); so called because it was so difficult to find.
kryptonite (n.): fictional substance in the "Superman" series, where it weakens the otherwise invulnerable hero, 1943; perhaps from elements of krypton (which is a gas) + meteorite.
Ku Klux Klan: 1867, American English, Kuklux Klan, a made-up name, supposedly from Greek kyklos "circle" (see cycle (n.)) + English clan. Originally an organization of former Confederate officers and soldiers, it was put down by the U.S. military, 1870s. Revived 1915 as a national racist Protestant fraternal organization, it grew to prominence but fractured in the 1930s. It had a smaller national revival 1950s as an anti-civil rights group, later with anti-government leanings.
kudos (n.): "fame, renown," 1799, probably originally in university slang, from Greek kydos "glory, fame," especially in battle, literally "that which is heard of," from PIE root *skeue- "to pay attention, perceive" (see caveat). A singular noun in Greek, but the final -s often is mistaken as a plural suffix in English, leading to the barbarous back-formation kudo (attested by 1936).
kudu (n.): African antelope, 1777, from Xosa-Kaffir iqudu.
kudzu (n.): 1893, from Japanese kuzu. Perennial climbing plant native to Japan and China, introduced in U.S. southeast as forage (1920s) and to stop soil erosion (1930s) and quickly got out of hand.
kulak (n.): 1877, from Russian kulak (plural kulaki) "tight-fisted person," literally "fist," from Turki (Turkish) kul "hand."