kis

See also: Appendix:Variations of "kis"

English

Noun

kis

1. plural of ki

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch kist, from Middle Dutch kiste, from Proto-West Germanic *kistu, from Latin cista, from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē), from Proto-Indo-European *kisteh₂.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

kis (plural kiste, diminutive kissie)

1. chest, box

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

• chis

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

kis

1. cheese

References

• Bartoli, Matteo (1906) Il Dalmatico: Resti di un’antica lingua romanza parlata da Veglia a Ragusa e sua collocazione nella Romània appenino-balcanica, Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, published 2000

Danish

Noun

kis c (singular definite kisen, not used in plural form)

1. sulfide mineral

Finnish

Etymology

See kissa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkis/, [ˈk̟is̠]
• Rhymes: -is
• Syllabification^(key): kis
• Hyphenation^(key): kis

Interjection

kis

1. used to attract a cat, often repeated

   kis kis, kippurahäntä

   here, kitty, kitty, "curly-tail"

Further reading

• “kis”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Anagrams

• -ksi

Hungarian

Etymology

From a Turkic language, compare to Turkish küçük and Turkmen kiçi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkiʃ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iʃ

Adjective

kis (comparative kisebb, superlative legkisebb)

1. small, little

   Synonyms: kicsi, -ka, -ke, -cska, -cske, -ikó (the meaning of ’little’ is often expressed with diminutive suffixes in Hungarian)

Usage notes

The numeral két (“two”) and the adjective kis (“small, little”) can only stand adjectively, before a noun (e.g. két alma (“two apples”) and kis alma (“a small apple”)). If they were to occur on their own (possibly also inflected), predicatively, or in reference to a whole noun phrase, the terms kettő (“two”) and kicsi (“small”) must be used instead: Csak kettő van (“There are only two”), Csak kicsi van (“There is a small one only.”) The same applies to compound numerals like tizenkét and tizenkettő (“twelve”). In terms of distribution, két and kis are like English sick (sick people ~ két/kis alma) while kettő and kicsi resemble ill (they are ill ~ csak kettő/kicsi van). The longer forms are definitely broader in use as they may also occur adjectively, whether for emphasis or as a form of colloquialism. As a rule of thumb, the short variants (két, kis) never stand on their own.

Derived terms

• kissé
• kisszerű

Compound words

• Kis-Ázsia
• Kis-Balaton
• Kis-Duna
• kisagy
• Kisalföld
• kisantant
• kisasszony
• kiságy
• kisállat
• kisbaba
• kisbetű
• kisbolygó
• kisbőgő
• kiscica
• kiscsákó
• kiscsibe
• kiscsikó
• kisebb-nagyobb
• kisember
• kisfilm
• kisfiú
• kisfröccs
• kisgazda
• kisgyerek
• kisgyermek
• kisiskola
• kisiskolás
• kiskacsa
• kiskakas
• kiskapitális
• kiskapu
• kiskereskedelem
• kiskorú
• kiskutya
• kislány
• kislemez
• kismacska
• kismama
• kisméretű
• kisokos
• Kispest
• kisregény
• kisszoba
• kisszótár
• kisterc
• kistérség
• kistompor
• kisujj
• kisvasút
• kisváros
• kisvártatva

Expressions

• kis póling
• kis prérityúk
• kis trapézcsont
• sok jó ember kis helyen is elfér

Further reading

• kis in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Livonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *ke-, from Proto-Uralic *ke.

Pronoun

kis

1. who

Declension

Declension of kis (8)

	singular (ikšlug)	plural (pǟgiņlug)
nominative (nominatīv)	kis	—
genitive (genitīv)	kīen kīnga	kīend
partitive (partitīv)	kīenta kīenda	kīendi
dative (datīv)	kīen kīngan	kīendõn
instrumental (instrumentāl)	kīenkõks kīngaks	kīendõks
illative (illatīv)	kīenõ	kīeniž
inessive (inesīv)	kīensõ	kīenši
elative (elatīv)	kīenstõ	kīenšti

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

kis

1. Alternative form of cos

Etymology 2

Verb

kis

1. Alternative form of kissen

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Swedish kis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kiːs/
• Rhymes: -iːs

Noun

kis m (definite singular kisen, indefinite plural kiser, definite plural kisene)

1. (slang) guy, dude

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Kies.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /çiːs/
• Rhymes: -iːs

Noun

kis m (definite singular kisen, indefinite plural kiser, definite plural kisene)

1. (mineralogy) pyrite

Derived terms

• svovelkis

References

• “kis” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “kis_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “kis_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Swedish kis.

Noun

kis m (definite singular kisen, indefinite plural kisar, definite plural kisane)

1. (slang) guy, dude

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Kies.

Noun

kis m (definite singular kisen, indefinite plural kisar, definite plural kisane)

1. (mineralogy) pyrite

Derived terms

• svovelkis

References

• “kis” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Slovene

Etymology

Back-formation of kísel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kíːs/

Noun

kȋs m inan

1. vinegar

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nominative	kís
genitive	kísa
	singular
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	kís
genitive (rodȋlnik)	kísa
dative (dajȃlnik)	kísu
accusative (tožȋlnik)	kís
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	kísu
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	kísom

Synonyms

• ócet (archaic)

Further reading

• “kis”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

Swedish

Etymology 1

Unknown origin. Entered broader Swedish via Younger Månsing cant. First attested in 1910.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kiːs/

Noun

kis c

1. a boy

   en tuff kis

   a tough boy

Declension

Declension of kis

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	kis	kis
	definite	kisen	kisens
plural	indefinite	kisar	kisars
	definite	kisarna	kisarnas

Synonyms

• pojke

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Kies, compare Swedish kisel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɕiːs/

Noun

kis c

1. pyrite, fool's gold

Declension

Declension of kis

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	kis	kis
	definite	kisen	kisens
plural	indefinite	kiser	kisers
	definite	kiserna	kisernas

Synonyms

• svavelkis
• pyrit
• kattguld

Descendants

• → Finnish: kiisu

References

• kis in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• kis in Svensk ordbok (SO)

Anagrams

• -isk, sik

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English kiss.

Noun

kis

1. kiss

Volapük

Pronoun

kis

1. what? (nominative, interrogative)
   • 1931, Arie de Jong, Gramat Volapüka, § 256:

     Kis atos binon-li?

     What is this?