kayak

English

A modern kayak.

Alternative forms

• kaiak, kiack, kyack, kyak, qayaq, kayack, qajaq

Etymology

Borrowed from Inuktitut ᖃᔭᖅ (qayaq, “hunter's boat”) (Inuvialuktun), from Proto-Eskimo *qayaʁ. Compare Greenlandic qajaq and Yup'ik qayaq.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈkaɪˌæk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪæk

Noun

kayak (plural kayaks)

1. A type of small boat, covered over by a surface deck, powered by the occupant or occupants using a double-bladed paddle in a sitting position, from a hole in the surface deck.
   • 2018 July 17, Autumn Spanne, “Check out these crazy rock formations across the United States”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     It’s just offshore from private property inaccessible to the general public, so a good way to approach the rock is by kayak, which can be rented in the small village of Port Austin.

Derived terms

• kayak cross
• kayak polo
• kayak roll
• kayak slalom
• kayak sprint
• kayaktivism
• kayaktivist

Descendants

• → Cebuano: kayak
• → Japanese: カヤック (kayakku)
• → Khmer: កាយ៉ាក់ (kaayak)
• → Korean: 카약 (kayak)
• → Portuguese: caiaque

Translations

a type of small boat

• Aleut: iqyax̂, iĝyax̂, iyĝax̂
• Arabic: قَايَق m (qāyaq), كَيَاك m (kayāk)
• Armenian: կայակ (kayak), բայդարկա (hy) (baydarka)
• Carpathian Rusyn: каяк m (kajak)
• Catalan: caiac (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 皮艇 (zh) (pítǐng), 獨木舟 / 独木舟 (zh) (dúmùzhōu)

• Czech: kajak (cs) m
• Danish: kajak (da) n
• Dutch: kajak (nl) m
• Esperanto: kajako
• Evenki: kajuk
• Faroese: kajakk f
• Finnish: kajakki (fi)
• French: kayak (fr) m
• Georgian: ბაიდარა (baidara)
• German: Kajak (de) n
• Greenlandic: qajaq
• Hebrew: קיאק (he) m (kayak)
• Hungarian: kajak (hu)
• Icelandic: kajak (is) m
• Ido: kayako (io)
• Indonesian: kayak (id)
• Inuktitut: ᖃᔭᖅ (qayaq)
• Inupiaq: qayaq
• Japanese: カヤック (ja) (kayakku)
• Kazakh: қылқайық (qılqayıq)
• Khanty:

  Northern Khanty: ^{(please verify)} кайэк (kajek) a "large boat"

• Khmer: កាយ៉ាក់ (kaayak)
• Korean: 카약 (kayak)
• Kyrgyz: байдарка (ky) (baydarka), каяк (ky) (kayak)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: kajaks m
• Māori: kōreti
• North Alaskan Inupiatun: ^{(please verify)} qayaq
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kajakk m

  Nynorsk: kajakk m

• Old Turkic: qajiq (qajiq)
• Persian: کایاک (kâyâk), قایق (fa) (qâyeq)
• Polish: kajak (pl) m
• Portuguese: caiaque (pt) m
• Russian: байда́рка (ru) f (bajdárka), кая́к (ru) m (kaják)
• Scottish Gaelic: caidheag m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ка̏ја̄к m

  Latin: kȁjāk (sh) m

• Slovene: kájak (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: kajak m

• Spanish: kayak (es) m, kayac m, cayac m
• Swedish: kajak (sv)
• Thai: เรือเล็กๆ (reua lék lék), เรือบด (reua bòt), คายัค (kaa-yák)
• Turkish: eskimo kayığı, kayık (tr), tekne (tr)
• Volapük: kayak (vo)
• Yup'ik: qayaq, paitaalek

See also

• canoe
• umiak

Verb

kayak (third-person singular simple present kayaks, present participle kayaking, simple past and past participle kayaked)

1. (intransitive) To use a kayak, to travel or race in a kayak.

   Kayaking is an Olympic sport.

2. (transitive) To traverse (a body of water) by kayak.

   On a dare, he kayaked the Harlem River in New York from Hell's Gate to Spyten Duyvil.

Derived terms

• kayakable
• kayaker
• kayaking
• kayakist

Translations

to use a kayak to travel or race

• Dutch: kajakken (nl)
• Finnish: meloa (fi), meloa kajakilla, kajakoida
• French: kayaker (fr)
• Māori: kōreti, hoe kōreti
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: padle kajakk (no)

• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: kajakować impf

• Swedish: paddla (sv)

to traverse a body of water by kayak

• Finnish: meloa (fi), meloa kajakilla, kajakoida
• Māori: kōreti, hoe kōreti c
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: kajakować impf

Anagrams

• yakka

Cebuano

Etymology

From English kayak, borrowed from Inuktitut ᖃᔭᖅ (qayaq, “man's boat”) (Inuvialuktun), from Proto-Eskimo *qayaʁ.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ka‧yak

Noun

kayak

1. a kayak

Verb

kayak

1. to ride a kayak

Cornish

Etymology

From English kayak, from Inuktitut ᖃᔭᖅ (qayaq, “hunter's boat”), from Proto-Eskimo *qayaʁ.

Noun

kayak m (plural kayakys or kayagow)

1. kayak

Mutation

Mutation of kayak

radical	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed
kayak	gayak	hayak	unchanged	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• “kayak” in Cornish Dictionary / Gerlyver Kernewek, Akademi Kernewek.

French

un kayak

Alternative forms

• kayac (rare)

Etymology

From Inuktitut (Inuvialuktun) ᖃᔭᖅ (qayaq, “man's boat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.jak/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Hérault)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Saint-Étienne)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Homophone: kayaks
• Hyphenation: kayak

Noun

kayak m (plural kayaks)

1. kayak

Derived terms

• canoë-kayak
• canoé-kayak
• kayak de mer
• kayak de neige
• kayak de rivière
• kayak sur neige
• kayaker
• kayakeur
• kayakiste

Further reading

• “kayak”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Etymology 1

From Betawi kaya', kaya, from Javanese ꦏꦪ (kaya, “like, such as”), from Old Javanese kaya (“like, as, as if, it looks as if”), from Pali काय (kāya), from Sanskrit क (ka, “similarity (suffix)”).

Alternative forms

• kaya
• kek
• kyk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈka.jaʔ]
• Hyphenation: ka‧yak

Preposition

kayak

1. (colloquial) like, such as

   Synonyms: bagaikan, macam, sebagai, seperti

Etymology 2

From Dutch kajak, from English kayak, from Inuktitut ᖃᔭᖅ (qayaq, “man's boat”), from Proto-Eskimo *qayaʁ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈka.jak]
• Hyphenation: ka‧yak

Noun

kayak (plural kayak-kayak)

1. (sports) kayak

   Synonym: sampan

Further reading

• “kayak”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Alternative forms

• cayac, caiaco (rare)

Etymology

From Inuktitut (Inuvialuktun) ᖃᔭᖅ (qayaq, “man's boat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈjak/
• Rhymes: -ak
• Hyphenation: ka‧yàk

Noun

kayak m (invariable)

1. kayak

Derived terms

• kayakista

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from English kayak.

Noun

kayak m (plural kayaks)

1. (Jersey) kayak

Spanish

Alternative forms

• kayac, cayac

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kaˈʝak/ [kaˈʝak]

• IPA^(key): /kaˈʝak/ [kaˈʝak] (everywhere but Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay, northern Mexico, Yucatán and Central America (except Panama))
• IPA^(key): /kaˈʃak/ [kaˈʃak] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /kaˈʒak/ [kaˈʒak] (elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /kaˈjak/ [kaˈjak] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• • Rhymes: -ak
  • Syllabification: ka‧yak
• IPA^(key): /ˈkajak/ [ˈka.jak]
  • Rhymes: -ajak

Noun

kayak m (plural kayaks)

1. kayak

Derived terms

• kayakismo

Further reading

• “kayak”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Turkish

Etymology

From kay- +‎ -ak.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ka‧yak

Noun

kayak (definite accusative kayağı, plural kayaklar)

1. ski

Declension

Declension of kayak

singular plural nominative kayak kayaklar definite accusative kayağı kayakları dative kayağa kayaklara locative kayakta kayaklarda ablative kayaktan kayaklardan genitive kayağın kayakların Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular kayağım kayaklarım 2nd singular kayağın kayakların 3rd singular kayağı kayakları 1st plural kayağımız kayaklarımız 2nd plural kayağınız kayaklarınız 3rd plural kayakları kayakları definite accusative singular plural 1st singular kayağımı kayaklarımı 2nd singular kayağını kayaklarını 3rd singular kayağını kayaklarını 1st plural kayağımızı kayaklarımızı 2nd plural kayağınızı kayaklarınızı 3rd plural kayaklarını kayaklarını dative singular plural 1st singular kayağıma kayaklarıma 2nd singular kayağına kayaklarına 3rd singular kayağına kayaklarına 1st plural kayağımıza kayaklarımıza 2nd plural kayağınıza kayaklarınıza 3rd plural kayaklarına kayaklarına locative singular plural 1st singular kayağımda kayaklarımda 2nd singular kayağında kayaklarında 3rd singular kayağında kayaklarında 1st plural kayağımızda kayaklarımızda 2nd plural kayağınızda kayaklarınızda 3rd plural kayaklarında kayaklarında ablative singular plural 1st singular kayağımdan kayaklarımdan 2nd singular kayağından kayaklarından 3rd singular kayağından kayaklarından 1st plural kayağımızdan kayaklarımızdan 2nd plural kayağınızdan kayaklarınızdan 3rd plural kayaklarından kayaklarından genitive singular plural 1st singular kayağımın kayaklarımın 2nd singular kayağının kayaklarının 3rd singular kayağının kayaklarının 1st plural kayağımızın kayaklarımızın 2nd plural kayağınızın kayaklarınızın 3rd plural kayaklarının kayaklarının

Volapük

Noun

kayak (genitive kayaka, plural kayaks)

1. kayak

Declension

Declension of kayak

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	kayak	kayaks
Genitive	kayaka	kayakas
Dative	kayake	kayakes
Accusative	kayaki	kayakis
Predicative1	kayaku	kayakus
Vocative	o kayak	o kayaks

1. Introduced in Volapük Nulik.