K, the eleventh letter of the English Alphabet, is borrowed from the Greeks, being the same character as the Greek kappa, answering to the oriental kaph. It represents a close articulation, formed by pressing the root of the tongue against the upper part of the mouth, with a depression of the lower jaw and opening of the teeth. It is usually denominated a guttural, but is more properly a palatal. Before all the vowels, it has one invariable sound, corresponding with that of c, before a, o, and u, as in keel, ken. In monosyllables, it is used after c, as in crack, check, deck, being necessary to exhibit a correct pronunciation in the derivatives, cracked, checked, decked, cracking, for without it, c, before the vowels e and i, would be sounded like s.
Formerly, k was added to c, in certain words of Latin origin, as in musick, publick, republick. But in modern practice, k is very properly omitted, being entirely superfluous, and the more properly, as it is never written in the derivatives, musical, publication, republican. It is retained in traffick, as in monosyllables, on account of the pronunciation of the derivatives, trafficked, trafficking.
K is silent before n, as in know, knife, knee. As a numeral, k stands for 250; and with a stroke over it, for 250, 000. This character was not used by the ancient Romans, and rarely in the later ages of their empire. In the place of k they used c, as in clino, for Greek. In the Teutonic dialects, this Greek letter is sometimes represented by h. [See H.]
KAALING, noun A bird, a species of starling, found in China.
KAB'BOS, noun A fish of a brown color, without scales.
KALE, noun [Latin caulis.] Sea-cale, an esculent plant of the genus Crambe.
KAL'ENDAR, noun [See Calendar.]
KA'LI, noun A plant, a species of Salsola, or glass-wort, the ashes of which are used in making glass. Hence alkali, which see.
KA'LIF, noun [See Calif.]
CALIPHATE or KALIFATE noun The office or dignity of a calif or the government of a calif.
KAL'MIA, noun The name of a genus of evergreen shrubs, natives of noun America, called laurel, ivy-bush, calico-bush, etc.
KAM, adjective Crooked. [Not used.]
KAN
KANGAROO', noun A singular animal found in New Holland, resembling in some respects the opossum. It belongs to the genus Didelphis. It has a small head, neck and shoulders, the body increasing in thickness to the rump. The fore legs are very short, useless in walking, but used for digging or bringing food to the mouth. The hind legs, which are long, are used in moving, particularly in leaping.
KA'OLIN, noun A species of earth or variety of clay, used as one of the two ingredients in the oriental porcelain. The other ingredient is called in China petunse. Its color is white, with a shade of gray, yellow or red.
KAR'AGANE, noun A species of gray fox found in the Russian empire.
KARPH'OLITE, noun [Gr. straw, and a stone.]
A mineral recently discovered. It has a fibrous structure and a yellow color.
KA'TA, noun In syria, a fowl of the grous kind.
KAUN
KAW, verb intransitive [from the sound.] To cry as a raven, crow or rook.
KAW, noun The cry of the rave, crow or rook.
KAW, v.i. [from the sound.] To cry as a raven, crow or rook.
KAW, n. The cry of the rave, crow or rook.
KAWN, noun In Turkey, a public inn.
KAYLE, noun
1. A nine-pin, a kettle-pin; sometimes written keel.
2. A kind of play in Scotland, in which nine holes ranged in threes, are made in the ground, and an iron ball rolled in among them.