Etymologically
Log in

kappa

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 12:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κάππα (káppa),[2][3][4][5] which is of Semitic origin,[6][7][8][9] akin to Biblical Hebrew כַּף (kaf, “palm, hollow of the hand”), the name of the Hebrew letter kaph.[4][6][5] Klein explains the name by the shape of the ancient Hebrew letter,[4] and the American Heritage Dictionary gives it a Phoenician origin.[8] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Semitic *kapp- (“palm, hand”).[5] Etymonline's entry instead derives it from a form of the Hebrew letter name qoph influenced by Aramaic, but its entry for K gives Phoenician kaph.[10] The Greek letter is the source of the Roman letter K.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The tenth letter of the Greek alphabet: about 1400, in Mandeville's Travels.[2][10]

Semantic evolution

Besides the letter, the word was used in biology from 1945 for a particle found in some strains of the ciliate Paramecium aurelia, which makes them produce a substance poisonous to other strains; it is now usually regarded as a commensal bacterium.[2][3][6] In British schoolchildren's slang, kappa has been recorded since 2001 as an insult, short for handicapped.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – the Greek letter.[2][10]
  • 1945 – in biology, a particle in some strains of paramecia.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The tenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Κ, κ), transliterated as k or c.[7][6][2]
  2. (biology) A particle in the cytoplasm of certain paramecia that makes them produce a substance toxic to other strains.[6][2][3]
  • kaph
  • K

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com