| 释义 |
K|keɪ|
the eleventh letter of the alphabet in English and other modern languages, was an original letter of the Roman alphabet, taken from the Greek Kappa K, originally {egkappa}, from Phœnician and general Semitic Kaph 𐤊. Its sound in Greek and Latin was, as in English, that of the back voiceless stop consonant, or guttural tenuis. But at an early period of Latin orthography, the letter C (originally representing Greek Gamma) was employed for the k sound, and the letter K itself fell into disuse, except in a few words, notably the term Kalendæ and the prænomen Kæso, where the traditional abbreviations Kal. and K. kept up the memory of the archaic spelling. But, with the exception of such archaisms, C became the regular Latin symbol of the k sound, and, as such, was substituted for Greek Kappa when Greek words were latinized, as in κίµων, κῦρος, κόµµα, Cīmōn, Cȳrus, comma. In late Latin, when the sound of C before a front vowel had become palatalized, or passed over to |tʃ|, as in Italian cento, città, the same fate befell the C of latinized Greek words, such as Cyrus; but later Greek words in living (esp. Christian) use such as kȳrie eleïson (κύριε ἐλέησον), which retained the Greek pronunciation, continued to be written with K. To Latin scribes of the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries, K was thus known as a supplementary letter to C, of use in Greek or other foreign words which had the ‘hard’ or k sound of C before e, i, or y. Hence it was naturally put to use in the writing of Old High German, Old Saxon, Old Frankish, Early Italian, and some dialects of Old French, in which a k sound came before e, i, or y. In writing these languages, C was usually employed, as in Latin, before a, o, u, or finally; but in practice there was considerable overlapping, with the final result that, in German, K ousted C, and is now the proper letter for this sound in that language, as well as in Dutch and all the Scandinavian tongues; while, in French, K was ousted partly by C, partly by Qu, according to derivation. (Thus Old Northern French kanon, karole, katre, ke, ki, kel, became later canon, carole, quatre, que, qui, quel.) So 13th c. It. ke, ki, perké, became later che, chi, perchè.
In the Romano-British alphabet, K was, as in Latin, of rare use, and was not adopted as a regular letter in Welsh or Irish; though, as being quite familiar to Latin scribes, it was occasionally written as a casual variant of C. In Old English, the original Teutonic k-sound was already in the earliest times fronted or palatalized before original front vowels (not the umlauts of back vowels), and for this variety of sound |c| a distinct symbol was provided in the Runic alphabet. Yet, in the OE. use of the Roman alphabet, both the guttural and the palatal sound were represented by C, although in the practice of individual scribes K was by no means infrequent for the guttural, especially in positions where C would have been liable to be taken as palatal, or would at least have been ambiguous, as in such words as Kent, kéne, kennan, akenned, kynn, kyning, kyðed, folkes, céak, þicke. But, even in these cases, C was much more usual down to the 11th century; and K can be regarded only as a supplemental symbol occasionally used instead of C for the guttural sound. After the Conquest, however, the Norman usage gradually prevailed, in accordance with which C was retained for the original guttural only before a, o, u, l, r, and K was substituted for the same sound before e, i, y, and (later) n; while the palatalized OE. c, now advanced to |tʃ|, was written Ch. Hence, in native words, initial K now appears only before e, i, y (y being moreover usually merged in i), and before n (:—OE. cn-), where it is no longer pronounced in Standard English, though retained in some dialects. Medially and finally, k is used after a consonant (ask, dark, twinkle), or long vowel (make, hawk, like, speak, week); after a short vowel, ck is used instead of cc or kk, but the unstressed suffix, formerly -ick (musick), is now ic, though, when a suffix in e or i follows, k reappears (traffic, trafficker, trafficking).
The native K words, being thus confined to ke-, ki-, kn- (with one or two from the dialects in ka-, ky-), are a small company. But their number is greatly reinforced by the foreign words of recent adoption, many of them very imperfectly naturalized, with which this letter is crowded. These include a few modern European words, Germanic or Slavonic; but they consist mainly of names of animals, plants, trade products, and native offices, from Oriental, African, American, Australian, and Oceanic languages. The number of these words is augmented by reason of the fact that some of those languages have two, or even three, distinct gutturals, for which, in ordinary English spelling, K has to stand; the combination kh is similarly put for several fricative and aspirated sounds in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Hindī, and other tongues. (See the individual words, in the etymology of which the actual origin of the letter is stated.) In giving these words English hospitality, it was formerly usual to follow English analogies and write C before a, o, u, l, r, h; but the more recent tendency has been to favour the use of K in these positions also; giving the non-English initial combinations ka-, kh-, kl-, ko-, kr-, ku-, by which the uncouth or barbarous character of the words is more strongly suggested. Thus cadi, Calmuck, Can (Chan, Cham), cloof, Coran, creese, now more frequently appear as kadi, Kalmuk, Khan, kloof, Koran, kris.
In words from Greek also, many prefer to retain K, instead of latinizing it to C; and this spelling is generally accepted in some words of recent formation, as kaleidoscope, kamptulicon, katabolism, kinetic, kudos, while in others, as kainozoic, kakodyle, krasis, C and K still struggle for predominance. In a very few words (not of English formation), K represents Greek χ, esp. in the words in kilo-, as kilogram(me), kilometre, etc.
1. The letter. The plural appears as Ks, K's, ks, k's. (Although now generally pronounced |keɪ|, the pronunciation |kiː| was formerly also current.)
c1000ælfric Gram. iii. (Z.) 6, B, c, d, g, p, t ᵹeendiað on e. h and k ᵹeendiað on a æfter rihte. q ᵹeendað on u. 1552Huloet s.v., Latin wordes begynninge with K be verye rare. 1573–80Baret Alv., K Is borrowed of the Greekes: and in writing of our English standeth vs in verie much stead. c1620Hume Brit. Tongue 14 Behind the voual, if a consonant kep it, we sound it [c] alwayes as a k. 1674Ray Coll. Words Err. Alphab. (E.D.S.) 25 C..if we use it in its proper power..differs not at all from k. 1899Westm. Gaz. 17 Aug. 6/2 She says women have no business to interfere with anything outside the four K's..The four K's are—‘Kinder, Kirche, Küche, and Kleider—children, church, kitchen, and dress.’
attrib.1887Skeat Princ. Etymol. I. 354 The substantive Care preserves the k-sound. 1900Contemp. Rev. Feb. 270 All the k-languages are spoken by peoples living either in the East of Europe or in Asia. Ibid. 272 The distribution of the k-peoples does not concern us.
2. Used, like the other letters of the alphabet, to express serial order, as in numbering the sheets or quires of a book, lettering parts of a figure, enumerating items of a list, etc.; the successive groups or sections of a classification; the companies of a military force; the batteries of the Royal Artillery; the different MSS. of a work, etc.
In serial order K is the 11th or 10th member, according as J is or is not reckoned as a member of the series (see J).
3. a. In Chem. K is the symbol for Potassium (mod.L. kalium). It was formerly used to designate a compound of gold (Syd. Soc. Lex.). In Meteorol. K = cumulus. In Assaying, etc. K = carat. In Astron. k designates Gauss's Constant, the square of which is a measure of the mass of the sun. For k in Quaternions, see I (the letter) 6; in Cryst. see H 7.
1853Sir W. R. Hamilton Lect. Quaternions 59 Let i, j, k, denote three straight lines equally long, but differently directed [etc.]. 1886Encycl. Brit. XX. 161/2 The fundamental i, j, k of quaternions.
b. In Physics k (or K) is the symbol of thermal conductivity. [Introduced by J. B. J. Fourier, 1822.]
[1822J. B. J. Fourier Théorie anal. de la Chaleur i. 54 Nous avons choisi ce même coëfficient K, qui entre dans la seconde équation, pour la mesure de la conducibilité spécifique de chaque substance.] 1850in Trans. R. Soc. Edin. (1864) XXIII. 137 The specific heat of the metal being known, we can convert this amount of heat or flux across x into absolute measure; for the Flux is = - K dv/dx and dv/dx is known... Thus every experiment becomes an independent means of finding K. 1880Encycl. Brit. XI. 579/2 Let k be the thermal conductivity of the substance and c its thermal capacity per unit bulk. 1947Sci. News IV. 147 With glass..the heat conductivity (k) is 0·002. Ibid. 148 Steel (k = 0·10). 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 239/1 The k-value according to choice of insulating material is about 0·4 to 0·5 kcal/m2 h°C.
c. Physics. The designation of one of the strongest Fraunhofer lines, situated in the extreme violet at a wavelength of 3934 Å and due to absorption by calcium ions.
1879Proc. R. Soc. XXVIII. 367 The calcium line with wave-length 4226..appears more or less expanded with a dark line in the middle..; the remaining bright lines of calcium are also frequently seen in the like condition, but sometimes the dark line appears in the middle of K (the more refrangible of Fraunhofer's lines H), when there is none in the middle of H. 1897Ibid. LXI. 437 The H and K lines have become thin and defined. 1967R. G. Giovanelli in J. N. Xanthakis Solar Physics xii. 353 The Balmer lines and the H and K lines of ionized calcium are..strong Fraunhofer absorption lines.
d. In Physics and Chem. k is the symbol of Boltzmann's constant.
1901Sci. Abstr. IV. 230 For a comparison of his own reasoning with that of Boltzmann on gas molecules, the author deduces from k an estimate (6·175 × 1023) for the number of molecules in the gramme molecule of any element. 1915, etc. [see Boltzmann]. 1962W. B. Thompson Introd. Plasma Physics ii. 17 A temperature of 11,600°K is needed to give an energy kT of 1 eV so that the mean kinetic energy of a molecule, 3/2kT, reaches 1 eV only when T = 7,730°K.
e. In Physics K is used to designate the series of X-ray emission lines of shorter wavelength obtained by exciting the atoms of any particular element (cf. L 7 a); these arise from electron transitions to the innermost, lowest-energy atomic orbit, of principal quantum number 1, which is thus termed the K-shell, and electrons in this shell K-electrons. K(-electron) capture, the capture by an atomic nucleus of one of the K-electrons.
1911C. G. Barkla in Phil. Mag. XXII. 406 It is seen that the radiations fall into two distinct series, here denoted by the letters K and L. [Note] Previously denoted by letters B and A... The letters K and L are, however, preferable, as it is highly probable that series of radiations both more absorbable and more penetrating exist. 1923H. L. Brose tr. Sommerfeld's Atomic Struct. & Spectral Lines iii. 144 If the excitation occurs through the agency of cathode rays, it is easy to imagine that the tearing-off of the ‘K-electron’ is effected by the impact of a cathode-ray particle that has penetrated into the atom. 1923E. N. da C. Andrade Struct. Atom vi. 100 Moseley identified in the K series the two lines which he called α and β... In the L series he identified five lines. 1938L. B. Loeb Atomic Struct. iii. 83 A tube with 1,470 volt electrons may excite K x-rays of Al, while it takes 60,600 volt electrons to excite the K x-rays of tungsten. 1946H. Semat Introd. Atomic Physics (ed. 2) viii. 342 Probably the most clearcut example of K-electron capture is the radioactive disintegration of vanadium, 23V49, into titanium, 22Ti49, with the capture of a K electron by the vanadium nucleus to form a titanium atom in the K state. 1951J. Dougall tr. Born's Atomic Physics (ed. 5) vii. 220 K-capture should therefore compete with β-decay. 1970Hurst & Turner Elem. Radiation Physics ii. 24 A few nuclei..capture an atomic electron from outside the nucleus, most often from the K-shell, and emit a neutrino.
f. Physics and Chem. In the old quantum theory k is the azimuthal or subordinate quantum number (introduced by N. Bohr 1920, in Zeitschr. f. Physik II. 445), which determines the shape of electronic orbits of the same n; (now superseded by the quantum number l). In molecular spectroscopy K is a quantum number which in diatomic and linear molecules represents the total angular momentum apart from electronic spin (now usu. replaced by N), and in polyatomic molecules represents the component of the total momentum about an axis of symmetry.
1922A. D. Udden tr. Bohr's Theory of Spectra ii. iii. 44 The perturbations are periodic, so that we may assume that to each energy value of a stationary state of the unperturbed system there belongs a series of discrete energy values of a whole number k. Ibid. iii. iii. 85 Where it is necessary to differentiate between orbits corresponding to various values of the quantum number k, a central orbit, characterized by given values of the quantum numbers n and k, will be referred to as an nk orbit. 1930R. S. Mulliken in Physical Rev. XXXVI. 613 In [Hund's] case b, λh/2π and the nuclear angular momentum combine to give a quantised resultant... For the corresponding quantum number..the designation K is now recommended. The possible values of K are λ, λ + 1, λ + 2... There is usually a small magnetic field in the molecule parallel to K, so that K and S form a resultant J. 1934H. L. Brose tr. Sommerfeld's Atomic Struct. & Spectral Lines (ed. 3) ii. 115 In wave mechanics the azimuthal quantum number, our nϕ or Bohr's k.., becomes replaced by the quantity l = nϕ - 1, l = 0, 1, 2... 1961Powell & Crasemann Quantum Mech. i. 24 A perturbation of the force, such as might be produced by the presence of other electrons, has the effect of removing the degeneracy, so that states with the same value of n but different values of k have different energies. 1962P. J. & B. Durrant Introd. Adv. Inorg. Chem. vii. 226 Paschen-Back effect [for diatomic molecules] (strong magnetic field)... K and S are not coupled together but are coupled directly to the field. 1966C. N. Banwell Fund. Molecular Spectroscopy iii. 94 Parallel Vibrations [of Symmetric Top Molecules]. Here the selection rule is: Δv = {pm} 1, ΔJ = 0, {pm} 1, ΔK = 0.
g. Psychol. The letter chosen to represent the spatial factor, or aptitude for remembering form and structure, in some ability-tests.
1935Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Monogr. Suppl. xx. vii. 65 In order to distinguish these eight tests from the rest of the table they may for convenience be called the K tests. Ibid. 75 Therefore there is in them [sc. specific correlations], over and above ‘g’, one group factor; this we name the K factor. 1944L. L. Thurstone Factorial Study Perception iii. 117 It is quite likely that the factor K is determined by experimental dependence. 1950Spearman & Jones Human Ability xii. 132 For the first time, the spatial test does, in some degree, measure K. 1969P. E. Vernon Intelligence & Cultural Environment ix. 59 Embedded Figures and the Kohs Block test are good measures of the k factor of British psychologists..and this is much the same as Thurstone's original S (spatial) factor.
h. [From its use as an abbrev. for kilo-.] In connection with Computers K or k is used to represent 1,000 (or 1,024: see quot. 1970). Also used transf. to represent 1,000 (pounds, etc.), esp. of salaries offered in job advertisements.
1966P. D. Reynolds Computer ABC 54 The internal storage of computers is commonly arranged..to hold a quantity of data which is some power of 2, for example, 4096 characters, bytes or words, which is 212. The convention is to refer to this number as 4K. 64K..amounts to 65,536(216). 1967Cox & Grose Organiz. Bibliogr. Rec. by Computer ii. 2 It seemed desirable..wherever possible to ignore the limitations of the computer available to us (a KDF 9 with a store size of 16 K 48-bit words). 1968Data Communications Sept. 143/3 (Advt.), Engineers, Mini-Micro Programmers, Analysts..Salaries $15–45K. 1970O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing ii. 35 Sometimes, a ‘K’ is used for a number which is either 1,000 or 1,024, depending on whether the context calls for integral powers of 10 or 2. If we say that a certain computer has a memory capacity of 4 K words, then, this means either 4,000 or 4,096 words, depending on whether the computer in question has a decimal or binary address system. However, the usage is a little loose: the number 216 = 65,536 is written either as 64 K or 65 K. 1970Daily Tel. 3 Dec. 21/3 (Advt.), All progs. PL1-COBOL Ass. plan rpg. for IBM/ICL/Hyl. to {pstlg}3k. 1971Daily Tel. 21 July 20 (Advt.), I.B.M. programmers...Sal. from {pstlg}1,600 to {pstlg}2·4k. 1971New Scientist 9 Sept. 569/1 Typically, a minicomputer has a minimum memory of between one and eight K words. 1985G. V. Higgins Penance for Jerry Kennedy viii. 65, I got that property for eighteen grand, net{ddd}I had eighteen K then. 1986Daily Tel. 26 Feb. 25 (Advt.), Financial administrator, Thames Valley, from {pstlg}12k. 1986Washington Post 31 Aug. b15 (Advt.), Computer systems programmer, $35–$40k, downtown. Ibid. k24 (Advt.), Alfa Romeo—'84... Perf. cond. 23k ml.
4. K. is an abbreviation,
a. for some Christian names, as Kate, Katherine, Kenneth.
b. for King: formerly used alone; now usually in comb., as K.B., King's Bench; K.C., King's Counsel, King's College; K.H.B. colloq. (see quot. 1925); K.O.S.B., King's Own Scottish Borderers; K.Q., ‘King and queen’ iron.c. for Knight (standing alone Kt.) also used colloq. for knighthood; in K.B., Knight Bachelor; K.B.E., Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire; K.B.S., Knight of the Blessed Sacrament; K.C.B., Knight Commander of the Bath; K.C.S.I., Knight Commander of the Star of India; K.C.M.G., Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George; K.C.V.O., Knight Commander of the Victorian Order; K.G., Knight of the Garter; K.G.C.B., Knight Grand Cross of the Bath; K.H., Knight of Hanover (Obs.); K.P., Knight of the Order of St. Patrick; K.S.G., Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great; K.T., Knight of the Order of the Thistle, etc.
d. Electro-physiol. = kathode (also ka.), kathodic (see cathode, etc.), in K.C.C., kathodic closure contraction; K.C.Te., kathodic closure tetanus; K.D.T., kathodic duration tetanus; K.O.C., kathodic opening contraction (Syd. Soc. Lex.).
e. for kilo-, as kcal., kcal, kilocalorie(s); kg., kilogram; kHz, kilohertz; km., kilometre; kVA (also kv.-a., etc.), kilovolt-ampere(s); kW (also K.W., kw., etc.), kilowatt(s); kWh, kilowatt-hour(s).
f. In miscellaneous abbreviations, as °K, K, (degree) Kelvin (see Kelvin, kelvin 3 b); K.E., k.e., kinetic energy; K.G.B. [Komitet Gosudarstvennoĭ Bezopasnosti] = Committee of State Security (U.S.S.R.); K.i.H., K.I.H., Kaisar-i-Hind; K.K.K., Ku Klux Klan; K.L., Kuala Lumpur; K.L.M. [Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij], Royal Dutch Airlines; K.M.T., Kuomintang; K.O., k.o., knock(ed) out (cf. kayo v. and n.); K.P. (U.S.), kitchen police(man); K.P.D. [Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands], German Communist Party; k.p.h., kilometres per hour; K ration [f. the initial letter of the surname of Ancel Keys (1904– ), American physiologist], a package of concentrated food; KWIC = key-word-in-context (key n.1 18).
1614Selden Titles Hon. 5 Where Moses speaks of Amraphel *K. of Sinaghr, the Paraphrase of Onkelos hath expresly K. of Babel. 1623Shakspere's 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 86 Doth not the K. lack subiects? Do not the Rebels want Soldiers?
1910Lett. Lord Kilbracken & Gen. Godley (c 1932) 13 Long may you live to wear your honours, and I hope that ‘the coming *K’ will not be long deferred. 1966J. Betjeman High & Low 70 That very near miss for an All Souls' Fellowship, The recent compensation of a ‘K’. 1968Listener 13 June 770/3 A ‘K’ isn't certain any more, even if you're a civil servant. 1973Times 24 Aug. 12/8 There might not have been much merit in a political knighthood, but there was no harm in it... The ‘K’, when it came, was a boon to the Member's wife, and a blessing to the Member himself.
1911Physical Rev. XXXIII. 226 The value of the ice point..was taken as *273·2°K. 1937M. W. Zemansky Heat & Thermodynamics xiii. 232 The isothermal compressibility of copper is plotted against the Kelvin temperature in Fig. 72. Above about 100°K the rise..is approximately linear. 1959Sci. News LI. 11 The lowest temperature that can conveniently be obtained by evaporating helium under reduced pressure is about 1°K. 1970Nature 10 Oct. 144/2 The coolest spectrum recorded over the Antarctic plateau indicates a surface temperature of 190 K (- 83°C). 1972Amat. Photographer 12 Jan. 38 Household Bulbs...150 watts is usually the maximum, with a colour temperature of around 2,700 to 2,900°K.
1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 213 It was resolved by the Court of *K.B.
1833Byron's Wks. (1846) 584/2 Any list of K.B.'s or K.H.'s.
1952‘W. Cooper’ Struggles of Albert Woods iv. i. 206 They tell me your Principal got a plain K and was hoping for *K.B.E. 1968Listener 12 Dec. 787/3 He was given a KBE for his efforts.
1916Let. 12 June in Knights of Blessed Sacrament (Catholic Truth Soc.) (1918) 14, I have started the *K.B.S. among my men here. 1923A. O'Connor Knight in Palestine ii. 11 The K.B.S. and another Catholic made ready the altar.
1898Besant Orange Girl ii. xi, Mr. Caterham, *K.C., our senior counsel.
1954R. T. Sanderson Introd. Chem. iv. 43 Larger quantities of heat are measured in kilocalories, which are 1000 calories each. They are sometimes abbreviated as Cal with a capital C; more commonly they are simply *kcal. 1964N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. iii. 29 The energy required to bring about this rotation is seen to be 5 kcal, a relatively trivial amount capable of being supplied by the thermal motion of neighbouring molecules.
1849Thackeray Three Sailors in S. Bevan Sand & Canvas xxv. 341 There's the British fleet a riding at anchor, With Admiral Napier, *K.C.B. 1880E. W. Hamilton Diary 29 Aug. (1972) I. 40 Loch, the Governor of the Isle of Man, is to be a KCB. 1904Westm. Gaz. 8 Jan. 6/2 Lord Lawrence used to speak of England's aggressive policy in India as the ‘K.C.B.’ mania. 1972Times 6 May 1/4 Sir James..was appointed KCB in the New Year Honours.
1897Whitaker's Almanack 108 The Royal Victorian Order. Instituted 21st April, 1896... Knights Grand Cross. G.C.V.O...Knights Commanders. *K.C.V.O. 1968Listener 29 Aug. 278/1 His sufferings..were not assuaged by a KCVO.
1888A. Aveling Mech. & Exper. Sci.: Mech. xiii. 137, *k.e. of the two masses after collision = mv2/2. 1909Jackson & Roberts First Dynamics 88 The gain of K.E. equals arithmetically the work done by the forces. 1965Van Wylen & Sonntag Fund. Classical Thermodynamics v. 84 E = Internal energy + Kinetic energy + Potential energy or E = U + KE + PE.
1892Pall Mall G. 21 Mar. 7/1 A movable drum weighing 2½ *kg...a line of 23 km. length.
1876Trollope Prime Minister IV. iv. 52 (heading) The new *K.G. 1880E. W. Hamilton Diary 23 Aug. (1972) I. 37 A Garter is vacant by death of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe..Lord Palmerston is a precedent for a commoner receiving a KG. 1904K. G. [see gunner 1 c]. 1972Whitaker's Almanack 1973 463 The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein K.G., G.C.B., D.S.O.
1960Analog Science Fact/Fiction Oct. 122/2 The *KGB was once again checking on every foreigner. 1966J. Porter Sour Cream v. 58 The K.G.B. is willing to shell out a small fortune in roubles for me, dead or alive. 1972K. Benton Spy in Chancery i. 8 The Russian who's made the approach..isn't the type of KGB operative one would expect to make a run for it.
1833*K.H. [see K.B. above]. 1899Miss G. Palgrave F. T. Palgrave 1 Sir Francis Palgrave, K.H., Deputy Keeper of Her Majesty's Records.
1916‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin iv. 62 He was a *K.H.B., and they were not sorry to be rid of his presence. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 134 A K.H.B.: a King's Hard Bargain. A worthless or incorrigible fellow. (Old Service term.)
1955Proc. IRE XLIII. 880/3 A happy solution would be more widespread use of the term ‘hertz’, meaning cycle-per-second. Thus the units of frequency would be hertz (or hz), *khz, and Mhz. 1974Electronics 26 Dec. 48 E A portable a-m signal generator..covers 85 kHz to 100 MHz.
a1912W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. (1913) 108/2 *K.I.H., Kaiser-i-Hind (Emperor of India). 1942Partridge Dict. Abbrev. K.i.H. or K.I.H., the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal; for useful service in India. 1973Daily Tel. 20 Sept. 36/7 Alice Headwards-Hunter, K.I.H., F.R.C.S.E., D.C.H., formerly of Calcutta.
1872in W. L. Fleming Documentary Hist. Reconstruction (1907) II. 132 We advanced upon the supposed *K.K.K.'s. 1877J. M. Beard K.K.K. Sk. 35 The horses of the raid were..furnished with all those cap-a-pie appointments of K.K.K. regalia. 1952N.Y. Times 1 Aug. 16/2 For conspiracy to flog a Negro woman, the so-called ‘Imperial Wizard’ of the local KKK has been given..four years. 1970G. Jackson Let. Apr. in Soledad Brother (1971) 48 I've already mentioned that most of them are K.K.K. types.
1961‘G. Black’ Suddenly, at Singapore ix. 129 From there we could have been going to *K.L. or anywhere in Malaya. 1973Observer 7 Oct. 36/6 Here is the capital, Kuala Lumpur, which the old Malay hands called KL and now everybody does.
1933Meccano Mag. Mar. 193/1 A pilot flying on the *K.L.M. route to Batavia. 1968Listener 28 Nov. 704/3 KLM suggest you come to Amsterdam just to see the airport.
1892*km. [see kg. above].
1959Times Lit. Suppl. 8 May 270/4 Two months later Chiang struck again by excluding Communists from any higher posts in the *K.M.T. 1969J. M. Gullick Malaysia ii. 85 At one time the Chinese middle class gave its support to the Kuomintang, an effective if externally orientated nationalist movement, but the KMT was ground between .. British restrictions .. and .. communist penetration of the Chinese working class. 1972‘M. Hebden’ Killer for Chairman i. ix. 115, I last saw you in Canton... There was one of the K.M.T. generals still hiding there.
1922T. Burke Lond. Spy 209 As a youth the ring attracted him... A few *k.o.'s put an end to that. 1923H. Cox Dogs & I xxii. 209 The Field Spaniel has received the ‘K.O.’ and taken the count! 1927Observer 25 Dec. 12/6 His record..includes a k.o. victory over Paul Berlenbach. Ibid., Knut Hansen, who k.o. Phil Scott in the first round. 1928Daily Express 25 June 17/7 Young Stanley..was then k.o. by a right swing to the jaw. 1951‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids viii. 142 Coker an' another chap was giving them the k.o. as they tripped. 1971Weekend World (Johannesburg) 9 May 1/2 Morodi said he was not upset by the defeat—the first k.o. he has suffered in 70 fights.
1909Who's Who p. xi/1 *K.O.S.B. King's Own Scottish Borderers. 1914F. W. Spicer Diary in P. Young Brit. Army (1967) xv. 203 On our right was the 13th Infantry Brigade, with the 2/K.O.S.Bs. joining up with our right Company. 1924Cricketer Ann. 1923–4 82 The band and pipers of the K.O.S.B.'s. 1964‘T. Carew’ Vanished Army ii. 128 The K.O.Y.L.I. saw strange faces in their depleted ranks—men of the Suffolks, K.O.S.B. and Manchesters.
1917D. C. Falls Army & Navy Information 84 *K.P., Kitchen Police. A mild form of punishment. 1921J. Dos Passos 3 Soldiers i. 10 The men..filed by the great tin buckets at the door, out of which meat and potatoes were splashed into each plate by a sweating K.P. in blue denims. 1929[see kitchen police s.v. kitchen n. 7]. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xviii. 143 After all the big personnel experts got together to figure out a job that was right for a city girl like me, I was cast for the part of Cinderella of Cottage No. 6. This was nothing but a fairytale name for permanent K.P. 1973Publishers Weekly 25 June 70/2 For an uncertain spell he struggles through the miserable childhood of ‘Norma Jean’ in a welter of secondhand conjectures—Mailer doing biographical KP.
1922Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 280/2 The violent agitation conducted by the central committee of the *K.P.D. in Berlin. 1935C. Isherwood Mr Norris changes Trains vi. 98, I am not a member of the Communist Party..I merely sympathize with the attitude of the K.P.D. to certain non-political problems. 1964New Statesman 28 Feb. 332/1 Relations with Germany—and with the German Communist Party, the KPD—stood at the centre of the picture.
1966G. B. Mair Kisses from Satan ix. 106 They were doing over a hundred *k.p.h. on a snaky road. 1972W. Garner Ditto, Brother Rat! xxiii. 172 The speedo needle crept past the 150 kph mark.
1826Sporting Mag. XVIII. 391 They are manufactured from scrap iron (the best *K.Q., or King and Queen as it is called). 1851Nimrod The Road 11 Axle trees of the best K.Q. iron.
1944R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 283 We get American ‘*K’ rations, with a few extras. 1967‘T. Carew’ Korea ii. 19 A K ration consisted of a tin of compressed meat hash, coffee, powdered milk, a fruit bar, cigarettes, chewing gum, and toilet paper.
1909Webster, *K.S.G.
1905S. P. Thompson Dynamo-Electr. Machinery (ed. 7) II. iii. 173 An 8-pole, 60 *KVA three-phase generator. 1930Engineering 14 Mar. 355/1 Supplies to the villages will be..through pole transformers with capacities of 50, 20 and 10 kv.-a. 1959B.S.I. News June 9/1 The standard applies to power transformers, reactors and earthing transformers having windings insulated with four different classes of insulating material, with single-phase ratings of 1kVA and above or polyphase ratings of 2kVA or above.
1905A. H. Bate Princ. Electr. Power iii. 34 Electrical power can thus be expressed in either of three units, namely:—The watt, equal to 1 volt multiplied by 1 ampere. The kilowatt (*K.W.), equal to 1000 watts. And the electrical horse-power. 1930Engineering 23 May 667/1 The maximum load in the area during 1928–29 was 26,059 kw., [etc.]. 1959Chambers's Encycl. V. 93/2 Central power stations for public electricity supply may range in capacity from the comparatively small size of 40,000 kW to the very large capacity of 500,000 kW or more.
1930Engineering 28 Feb. 299/2 The best yearly record has been reduced to as low as 12,500 B.Th.U. per *kw.-h. sent out. 1963Times 3 June 12/1 The Minister expressed his belief that in 1968–70 30,000m. kWh of a total electricity production of 260,000m. kWh will be produced by France's atomic plants.
1959H. P. Luhn in IBM Corporation ASDD Rep. RC-127 (title) Keyword-in-context index for technical literature (*KWIC index). 1967Cox & Grose Organiz. Bibliogr. Rec. by Computer vi. 154 It has been decided not to produce a KWIC index at this stage. 1969Computers & Humanities III. 166 An obvious prerequisite for this kind of dictionary construction is large key-word-in-context (KWIC) lists drawing on large samples of the language.
Hence K.C.B.-ship, and the like; K.C.B. v. nonce-wd., to invest with the order of K.C.B.
1881Black Beaut. Wretch I. 24 [He] had got his K.C.B.-ship for long service in India. 1886Athenæum 3 Apr. 456/3 In 1869 [he] accepted a K.C.M.G. ship in lieu of the peerage he had hoped for. 1892Temple Bar Mag. Sept. 127 He was K.C.B.'d the other day.
Add:[4.] [c.] K.C.M.G. (examples).
1842Royal Kalendar sig. av, *K.C.M.G., Knight Commander of St. Michael and St. George. 1880Foreign Office List 172/2 Rose, Sir John,..was made a K.C.M.G., January 15, 1870... Was made a G.C.M.G., October 29, 1878. 1907W. S. Churchill Let. 6 Nov. in R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill (1969) II. Compan. ii. 695 Delighted Governor who is just made KCMG. 1986Independent 31 Dec. 4/3 CMG is known by juniors as ‘Call Me God’ and KCMG as ‘Kindly Call Me God’.
▸ KBO n. Astron. = Kuiper belt object n. at Kuiper belt n. Compounds.
1996Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc. 28 1081/1 Because Centaurs typically survive only a few Myr before being ejected from the solar system by one of the giant planets, their numbers should be small compared with the number of *KBO's. 2002New Scientist 14 Dec. 33/2 These discs are produced by collisions between icy objects similar to the KBOs.
▸ > v. (originally as graphic abbreviation in a scorecard marking system). Baseball. = strike-out n. at strike v. Compounds.
1861N.Y. Clipper 23 Mar. 388/2 We take the first three letters of the alphabet to designate the first three bases, and we use the first or last letter of the word we wish to use afterwards; thus, H, for home, K, for struck... Pearsall being put out on the fly by the right fielder, we record it with the letter F,..and Russell..striking out, we simply write the letter K. 1866H. Chadwick Base Ball Player's Bk. of Ref. 56 The above is a complete record of the batting..and the fielding..and the explanation of the abbreviations used are as follows:..Smith..went out on three strikes, which is recorded by..the letter K to indicate how put out, K being the last letter of the word ‘struck’. 1942L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §677/10 K., score card indication for a strike-out, e.g. K1, K2 &c., the first, second &c. strike-out. 1948Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 8 Sept. 22/3 Walter Johnson..and Bob Feller with his record-setting total of 348 strikeouts..are the only modern-day hurlers to register 300 or more Ks in a single major league season. 1971Daily News (Red Bluff, Calif.) 29 May 8/6 Tony O'Dell of Los Molinos had the best control ratio and also the most Ks. 1992N. Ryan & J. Jenkins Miracle Man viii. 100 Danny Heep of the Mets, a former teammate on the Astros, became my four thousandth K.
▸ K n. slang ketamine, used as a recreational drug; cf. Special K n. at special adj. and adv. and n. Additions.
1984E. L. Abel Dict. Drug Abuse Terms 90 *K, ketamine. 1992Independent 2 Apr. 5/1 Abuse of the anaesthetic called ketamine, which is also known on the street as ‘vitamin K’ and ‘K’, is being monitored by the Home Office. 2003Calgary Herald (Nexis) 9 May b1 Ketamine, or ‘K’ or ‘Special K’ is an anesthetic used by doctors and veterinarians. Its action is called dissociative, which means the mind seems to separate from the body, leaving the user in a detached, hallucinogenic state.
▸ K-hole n. slang a trance-like state induced by excessive consumption of ketamine as a recreational drug, typically characterized by temporary paralysis, disorientation, hallucinations, or a sense of disassociation, and likened to falling into a hole; (also in extended use) any kind of trance-like state.
1992Out Summer 49/1 The drug..produces in some a pleasant disorientation and in others a frightening, insulating numbness (called *K-holes). 1999Village Voice (N.Y.) 8 June 35/1 Repetitious dialing leaves you in a trancelike state... Last year, I fell into this telephonic K hole and twice hung up a ringing Ticketmaster line. 2001S. Walton Out of It (2002) iv. 85 He had spent the time luxuriating in a K-hole so deep it was practically a bottomless pit. |
