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kaffeeklatsch, kaffee klatsch, coffee-klatsch, coffee klatsch, coffee klatch, coffee clutch, klatsch, klatch n.

from Kaffeeklatsch "coffee gossip": informal conversational gathering where coffee is served [< German Kaffee "coffee" < French café < Italian caffè < Turkish kahve < Arabic qahwa "coffee, wine" + Klatsch "gossip, clapping noise" < klatschen "to gossip, to clap"]. This entry suggested by Wilton Woods.

• "We sat thus for an hour—an unexpected type of Kaffee Klatsch for such an outpost of civilization." Theodore Roosevelt, A Book-Lover’s Holidays in the Open, 1916.
• "Her clothes always smelled of savory cooking, except when she was dressed for church or Kaffeeklatsch, and then she smelled of bay rum or of the lemon-verbena sprig which she tucked inside her puffy black kid glove." Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark, 1915, p. 171.
• "Mr. Schultz downplays his formidable business skills, but makes sure to mention his health-care kaffeeklatsch with Bill Clinton." Andrew Stuttaford, "Food & Drink: Mug's Game", National Review, Dec. 7, 1998.
• "The oldest coffee-house on the street, Koffee Klatsch (778 Higuera; 544-1228), has been around for 15 years." David Lansing, "The new face of San Luis Obispo", Sunset, May 1996.
• "Lazio's ethnic good looks and ready Ultra-Brite smile could land him in the cast of Friends, but he is far more disciplined and determined than the coffee-klatsch crowd at Central Perk." Kate O'Beirne, "New York: The Anti-Hillary Hope - Rick Lazio in the arena", National Review, Jun. 19, 2000.
• "And while it can reflect the coffee klatsch of the industry, it often relies on blind items: it was responsible for the WMA rumors, as well as posting copies of internal e-mails sent by Jim Wiatt and Dave Wirtschafter to staffers when they each left ICM for WMA." Marc Graser, "Geek Gab Freaks Film Biz", Variety, Oct. 18, 1999.
• "At one point, an aged white businessmen -- member of an informal coffee klatch called 'Bubbas in Training' -- casually admits that he's never thought of the word 'nigger' as demeaning or offensive." Joe Leydon, "Two Towns Of Jasper", Variety, Jan. 28, 2002.

kaiser, Kaiser n.

from Kaiser "emperor": emperor; title of the Holy Roman Emperors or the emperors of Austria or Germany until 1918; person who exercises or tries to exercise absolute authority; autocrat [German < Middle High German keiser < Old High German keisar < Latin Caesar, related to Greek kaisar].

• "A herd of zebras grazed where once the German kaiser may have reviewed his troops." Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Lost Continent, 1916, p. 95.
• "To suppose in these days that one has literally to give all to the poor, or that a starved English prisoner should literally love his enemy the Kaiser, or that because Christ protested against the lax marriages of His day therefore two spouses who loathe each other should be for ever chained in a life servitude and martyrdom -- all these assertions are to travesty His teaching and to take from it that robust quality of common sense which was its main characteristic." Arthur Conan Doyle, The Vital Message, 1919, p. 24.
• "Every ascendant monarch in Europe up to the last, aped Cæsar and called himself Kaiser or Tsar or Imperator or Kasir-i-Hind." H. G. Wells, The World Set Free, 1914, p. 21.
• Books and products related to kaiser

kaiser roll, kaiser n.

from Kaisersemmel "kaiser roll": a round, raised, unsweetened, crusty, yeast roll often sprinkled with poppy or sesame seeds and used for sandwiches, also called Vienna roll [< German dialectal Kaisersemmel < German Kaiser "Kaiser" + German dialectal Semmel "roll"].

• "She had spent the afternoon in Seneca Falls, at the Elizabeth Cady Stanton house, and come back with steaks for dinners, which I had grilled—strip sirloins, very rare, with a thin slice of raw white onion, in a kaiser roll, with barbecue sauce, and beans on the side—and we had finished a bottle of Barolo and I was about to open another." Garrison Keillor, Wobegon Boy, 1997, p. 70.
• "The Judge forgot about his corned beef on kaiser." John Grisham, The Testament, 1999, p. 361.

Kapellmeister, Capellmeister n.

from Kapellmeister "band leader": musical director in a royal chapel, choir-master [< German Kapelle "chapel, choir or band that once played in a prince's chapel" < Middle High German kapelle, kappelle < Old High German kapella < Middle Latin capella, cappella "small house of God, small building where the coat of Saint Martin of Tours was kept, small coat" < cappa "a kind of head covering, coat with hood" + Meister, see -meister].

• "Her master at Mrs. Lemon's school (close to a county town with a memorable history that had its relics in church and castle) was one of those excellent musicians here and there to be found in our provinces, worthy to compare with many a noted Kapellmeister in a country which offers more plentiful conditions of musical celebrity." George Eliot, Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life, 1871, p. 167.
• "And, with the exception of Mr. Paine, we know of no American hitherto who has shown either the genius or the culture requisite for writing music in the grand style, although there is some of the Kapellmeister music, written by our leading organists and choristers, which deserves honourable mention." John Fiske, The Unseen World, and Other Essays, 1876, p. 266.
• "If without this you have a fancy for quavers and demi-semi-quavers, practise for yourself and by yourself, and torment not therewith the Capellmeister Kreisler and others." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Hyperion, p. 161.
• "Humanity may well tremble for the future if again resounds under this archway the tramp of boots following a march of Wagner or any other Kapellmeister." Vicente Blasco Ibanez, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
• "This last was sanctified by the spirit of Joseph Haydn, for so many years Kapellmeister to the Esterhazy family." Henry J. Coke, Tracks of a Rolling Stone.

kaput, kaputt adj.

from kaputt "broken": utterly defeated, finished, destroyed; hopelessly outmoded [< French capot "not having made a trick at piquet"].

• "That's right. Broken. It's [the thinking machine] kaput." Isaac Asimov, I, Robot, 1950, p. 175.
• Kaput!, by Stevan Eldred-Grigg, 2000.
• K-Rations, Kilroy, KP, & Kaputt: One GI's War, by Henry K. Davis, 1995.
• More books and products related to kaput, kaputt

karst n., karstic adj.

from Karst: an irregular limestone region with sinks, underground streams and caverns.

• "Such regions are said to have a karst topography, a name derived from a famous cave region along the Adriatic Sea in Italy and Slovenia." "Cave" Microsoft® Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia.
• "Tourism is the major industry in this area, with Burren, a unique limestone karst region, being the best-known feature." "Clare (county, Republic of Ireland)" Microsoft® Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia.
• "So [wild and free] were those who once survived off this rugged karst land—from trappers and loggers to farmers coaxing crops from rocky soil." Lisa Moore LaRoe, "Ozarks Harmony", National Geographic, Apr. 1998.

Karst n. (also Kras or Italian Carso)

a limestone mountain range in eastern Italy, western Croatia and western Slovenia [< Serbo-Croatian Kras and krs].

• "The Karst, a barren limestone plateau, dominates the Croatian landscape in some areas; the island of Pag consists almost entirely of karst terrain." "Croatia" Microsoft® Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia.
• "The Italians fell back, abandoning both Gorizia and the Karst Plateau." "Italy" Microsoft® Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia.
• "The eastern third of the republic lies within the Karst, a barren limestone plateau broken by depressions and ridges." "Slovenia" Microsoft® Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia.

katzenjammer n.

from Katzenjammer "hangover": hangover; distress; discordant clamor; made famous by The Katzenjammer Kids, a cartoon strip which was based on Wilhelm Busch's Max und Moritz from Germany [< German Katze "cat" + Jammer "wailing, distress"]. See also to yammer.

• "Bourgeois revolutions like those of the eighteenth century storm more swiftly from success to success, their dramatic effects outdo each other, men and things seem set in sparkling diamonds, ecstasy is the order of the day- but they are short-lived, soon they have reached their zenith, and a long Katzenjammer [crapulence] takes hold of society before it learns to assimilate the results of its storm-and-stress period soberly." Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon, 1852.
• "Alas! as I was to learn at a later period, intellectual intoxication too, has its katzenjammer." Jack London, John Barleycorn.

kibitz, kibbitz v.i., v.t., kibitzer n.

related to kiebitzen, Kiebitz "kibitz, kibitzer": to look on and interfere or give unwanted, meddlesome or intrusive comments, advice or criticism, especially during a card game; to chat, converse [< Yiddish kibetsn < German kiebitzen < German thieves' jargon kiebitschen "to examine, search, look through, go through", influenced by German Kiebitz "any of several birds called peewits" (imitative)].

• "So I marched myself back into the technician's area, where the Nordic nurse was already kibitzing with one of the doctors." Fran Drescher, Cancer Schmancer, 2002, p. 226.
• "I let most of the staff off so they wouldn't kibitz while I was cooking." Katherine Neville, The Eight, 1995, p. 212.
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kindergarten, K n.

from Kindergarten "kindergarten". A Kindergarten in German-speaking countries would actually be the equivalent of a preschool in the U.S. A U.S. kindergarten would be Vorschule in German. A kindergartner would be a Kindergartenkind while a kindergarten teacher would be a Kindergärtner (male) or Kindergärtnerin (female) [< German Kinder "children" + Garten "garden"].

• "Theirs was a quintessentially long affair; they had known each other since kindergarten and had been dating each other exclusively since the ninth grade." Robin Cook, Shock, 2001, p. 14.
• "I haven't been so embarrassed since a very unfortunate incident in kindergarten, even though Captain Jorgenson acted as if nothing had happened." Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers, 1959.
• "After all, entire kindergarten classes had come unglued." John Irving, The Fourth Hand, 2001, p. 20.
• "McPherson himself always seemed to have a kindergarten quality about him, and a boundless optimism." Michael Crichton, Terminal Man, 1988, p. 30.
• "I knew I had to tell him that, otherwise I would get a call from his kindergarten teacher about his uncle the abortionist." Michael Crichton writing as Jeffery Hudson, A Case of Need, 1968.
• "I've heard it said that kindergartners already know how to sing and dance and paint." Scott Adams, The Joy of Work: Dilbert's Guide to Finding Happiness at the Expense of Your Co-workers, 1999.
• Kindergarten Cop, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1990.
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Kinderscenen, Kinderszenen n.pl.

from Kinderscenen, Kinderszenen "Scenes of Childhood": set of 13 short piano pieces by Schumann, Opus 15, composed 1838 [< German Kinder "children" + Scenen, Szenen "scenes" (Scenen is an older German spelling.)].

• "Then another Schumann, another of his gay ones – Kinderscenen." Roald Dahl, "Edward the Conqueror", Kiss Kiss, 1959, p. 167.
• "Thea studied some of the Kinderszenen with him, as well as some little sonatas by Mozart and Clementi." Willa Silbert Cather, The Song of the Lark, 1915, p. 174.
• Schumann: Kinderscenen, Op.15, Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann.
• Schumann: Kinderszenen Op15.
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Der Kindestod n.

from der Kindstod "(the) child death": the name of the monster in season 2, episode 18 ("Killed by Death") of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer [< German Kind "child" + Tod "death", plötzlicher Kindstod is the German term for "SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome"]. This entry suggested by CauNo.

kirsch, kirschwasser n.

from Kirsch, Kirschwasser "cherry brandy": a dry colorless brandy distilled from the fermented juice of the black morello cherry, especially in Germany, Switzerland and Alsace, France; cherry schnapps [< German Kirsche "cherry" + Wasser "water"]. See also schnapps. This entry suggested by Michael Kiermaier.

• "Kirschwasser, a clear cordial, is often used in bakeshops and kitchens." Culinary Institute of America, The Professional Chef, 2001, p. 159.
• "In our eight years together we'd had exactly one fight: something to do with kirschwasser and a cheese fondue." Michael Chabon, Wonder Boys: A Novel, 1995, p. 226.
• "The Swiss offered cigars, and coffee was brought, along with small glasses of Kirschwasser." Frederick Forsyth, The Dogs of War, 1982, p. 152.
• "Kirsch or Kirschwasser is made in the Rhine Valley from black cherries and takes its unique flavoring from the cherry pits and skins." Christopher Egerton-Thomas, How to Manage a Successful Bar, 1994, p. 26.
• "Teddy glanced at the sideboard and saw that the princess had put out two chipped crystal glasses and a much depleted bottle of Kirschwasser from the Black Forest." Barbara Taylor Bradford, Women in His Life, 1991, p. 277.
• "I bent over and smelled his breath: a strong odor of kirschwasser was present; the odor of cherries could conceal many other substances." Quinn Fawcett, Against the Brotherhood: A Mycroft Holmes Novel, 1998, p. 227.
• "Similarly, the American food writer M F K Fisher categorises trifles as 'innocent', or made with plain bottled fruit, and 'not innocent' -- doused with Kirschwasser or brandy." Bee Wilson, "A trifle guilty: on how teetotallers get drunk on boxing day", New Statesman, Dec. 17, 2001.
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kitsch n.

from Kitsch "gaudy trash": something appealing to popular or lowbrow taste [prob. < German dialect kitschen "to spread, smear, scratch together, slide"].

• "Normal media are distributed far beyond the reaches of kitsch." Adilkno (Foundation for the Advancement of Illegal Knowledge), Media Archive, 1998.
• "In all the years that they lived here, the apartment was never redecorated and the only change was in the quantity of ornaments and kitsch decorations which gathered here in ever greater amounts." Steven Kelly, Invisible Architecture.
• "'All yours,' said the mustachioed guard smoothly; he had definitely not been the oaf that Tunk chewed out about dropping pieces of kitsch in the corridor." Dafydd ab Hugh, Balance of Power (Star Trek: The Next Generation), 1995.
• On Kitsch, by Odd Nerdrum, 2001.
• Kitsch: From Education to Public Policy (Pedagogy and Popular Culture), by Catherine A. Lugg, 1999.
• Amazon.com's Kitsch category
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klatsch, klatch n.

See kaffeeklatsch.

kletterschuh, klett n. [pl. kletterschuhe, kletterschuhs]

from Kletterschuh "climbing shoe": a lightweight climbing boot [< German klettern "to climb" + Schuh "shoe"]. This entry suggested by Claus Günkel.

• "Relying on pitons hand forged by Yvon Chouinard in the Camp 4 parking lot and Austrian kletterschuhs, Bridwell and his cohorts practiced a ground-up ethic that outlawed previewing, hang-dogging, or resting on gear." Peter Potterfield, Over the Top: Humorous Mountaineering Tales, 2002, p. 91.
• "Yet I continued to hesitate short of the real plunge—learning to climb with rope and piton and carabiner and the tight-fitting special footgear called kletterschuhe." David Roberts, True Summit: What Really Happened on the Legendary Ascent on Annapurna, 2002, p. 39.
• "I did not possess a rope of my own, but a pair of kletterschuhe or proper climbing shoes were my pride and joy." Anderl Heckmair, My Life: Eiger North Face, Grand Jorasses, & Other Adventures, 2002, p. 18.
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klieg n.

See klieg light.

Klieg eye, Klieg's eye n.

a condition marked by conjunctivitis, edema of the eyelids, tearing, and photophobia due to exposure to intense lights (Klieg lights), cinema eye.

klieg light, klieg lamp, klieg n.

an intense light used in producing motion pictures, the center of public attention [< brothers John H. Kliegl (1869-1959) & Anton Tiberius Kliegl (1872-1927), German-born American lighting experts. The last letter l of their name apparently became fused with the word light in the term klieg light.].

• "The idea was he would take her in September to Hollywood and arrange a tryout for her, a bit part in the tennis-match scene of a motion picture based on a play of his—Golden Guts—and perhaps even have her double one of its sensational starlets on the Klieg-struck tennis court." Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, 1989, p. 276.
• "Klieg lights were turned on for the newsreel cameras." David McCullough, Truman, 1993, p. 262.
• "I sat on the chair's edge in a soaking sweat, as though each of my 1,369 bulbs had every one become a klieg light in an individual setting for a third degree with Ras and Rinehart in charge." Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, 1995, p. 13.
• "And even if he were as good as Tiger, he couldn't/wouldn't handle the klieg lights pouring on his face at all times." Rick Reilly, Who's Your Caddy?: Looping for the Great, Near Great, and Reprobates of Golf, 2003, p. 121.
• "He looked around at the photographers, the crowd, the dazzling kliegs, the long black limousines at the curb, and she could see that it excited him." Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, 2001, p. 357.
• "The combination of Magellan's rapidly increasing size and fame's klieg light took its inevitable toll." William J. Bernstein, The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio, 2002, p. 92.
• "Bosch felt his skin go hot, as if klieg lights had been turned on him, and that everyone in the courtroom was staring at him." Michael Connelly, The Harry Bosch Novels: The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde, 2001, p. 602.
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Klieg's eye n.

See Klieg eye.

knackwurst, knockwurst n.

from Knackwurst "knackwurst": a short, thick sausage [< German knacken "to crack or crackle" + Wurst "sausage"]. See further example under yodel. See also wurst.

• "But on an older guy, gloominess looks like indigestion. People think you had too much knockwurst for lunch." Garrison Keillor, Wobegon Boy, 1997, p. 44.
• "4 fully cooked knockwurst or other mild-flavored sausage", Carla Waldemar, recipe for "Sauerkraut and Sausage Rolls", "Comforts from the kitchen", Better Homes & Gardens, Feb. 1996.
• "I had been preparing for publication, a directory, and in the progress of the work, called upon an honest German up Walnut street, who was extensively engaged in the manufacture of bratwurst, knackwurst, leber wurst, and sour-krout." Charles Cist, Sketches and statistics of Cincinnati in 1851, 1851, p. iv.
• "The food at Cole's is what in some cities is referred to as hofbrau-style. You take a tray, and push it down a rail, ordering items like knockwurst and beans, beef stew, kielbasa, macaroni and cheese, and turkey drumsticks from the people, behind the steam tables." Merrill Shindler, "History in the Tasting (Los Angeles restaurants)", Los Angeles Business Journal, Nov. 6, 2000.
• "He had epicanthic folds around his eyes, and thin lips the color of spoiled knockwurst." Amy Sterling Casil, "Chromosome Circus", Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan. 2000.
• Prologue to Maturity: With Charlie and the Knockwurst Kid: A Novel, by B. William Max, 1989.
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kobold n.

from Kobold: a sprite, spirit, brownie or gnome [German Kobold < Middle High German kóbolt, kobólt "house spirit"]. See also nickel, quartz.

• "The Rooms were cold, the Hearth was grey:/Asleep in the ashes the Kobold lay./The Board-Floor creaked,/The Grey-Mouse squeaked,/And the Kobold dreamed its ear he tweaked." Howard & Katharine Pyle, The Wonder Clock: Or Four and Twenty Marvelous Tales, 1887, p. 28.
• "These oppressed yet dreaded fugitives obtained, naturally enough, the character of the German spirits called Kobold, from which the English goblin and the Scottish bogle, by some inversion and alteration of pronunciation, are evidently derived." Sir Walter Scott, Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, 1884, p. 103. Goblin does indeed come from Middle High German kobold by way of Middle English and Middle French gobelin.
• "There was but one picture -- a magazine color-plate of a steep-roofed village in the Harz Mountains which suggested kobolds and maidens with golden hair." Sinclair Lewis, Main Street, 1920, p. 117.
• "Oh, no, cried the host, quite humbly, I will gladly produce everything, only make the accursed kobold creep back into the sack." Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, Grimm's Fairy Tales.
• "May it not be a hint that the traditions are akin, of elfin and kobold races in Europe, and monkeys, actually cognate with them in Hindustan?" Helene Petrovna Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology, p. 563.
• "The king had seen all kind of gnomes, goblins, and kobolds at his coronation; but they were quite rectilinear figures, compared with the insane lawlessness of form in which the Shadows rejoiced; and the wildest gambols of the former, were orderly dances of ceremony, beside the apparently aimless and wilful contortions of figure, and metamorphoses of shape, in which the latter indulged." George MacDonald, Adela Cathcart, 1864.
• Symphony no 5, Dame Kobold Overture, composed by Joseph Joachim Raff, 2000.
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kohlrabi n. [pl. kohlrabies]

from Kohlrabi: a kind of cabbage with an edible, bulbous stem that looks somewhat like a turnip [< Italian cavolo rapa "cole rape" < Latin caulis "cabbage" + rapa "turnip"].

Kommandant n.

"commander, commanding officer" [< German Kommandant < French commandant]. The spelling commandant comes directly from the French commandant or Spanish and Italian commandante.

• Death Dealer: The Memoirs of the SS Kommandant at Auschwitz, by Rudolf Hoss et al., 1996.
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Konzertmeister, Konzert-Meister, Concertmeister, Concert-Meister n.

from Konzertmeister "concertmaster": leader of the first violins in a symphony orchestra, usually assistant to the conductor [< German Konzert < Italian concerto "concert, agreement, contract" < concertare "make an agreement or contract" + Meister, see -meister].

• "The Konzert-Meister bows to his friend in the third row, as he tucks his violin under his chin." Edna Ferber, Fanny Herself, 1917, p. 279.
• "His Concert-Meistership/Was first again." Amy Lowell, Men, Women and Ghosts.

kraut n.

from Kraut "cabbage": sauerkraut.

kraut, Kraut n.

from Kraut "cabbage": a usually disparaging name used for Germans during World War II [< Old High German krut].

• "'A trench,' muttered Lary, turning on his torch. 'We should've dug a trench.'
  'Eh?'
  'It's raining.' (A violent steady drumming on the canvas [of the tent].) 'There's an inch of water in here! Your clothes, the socks, the mess you make! Soaked!'
  'Lary, you're such a Kraut.'"
  Redmond O'Hanlon, No Mercy: A Journey Into the Heart of the Congo, 1998, p. 264.
• "... the onions and green peppers diced for the breakfast omelets, the electric dicer working like a gem (those crafty Krauts), the Costa Rican coffee freshly dripped...." Garrison Keillor, "Winthrop Thorpe Tortuga", The Book of Guys, 1993.
• This Is Kraut Rock, by Brainticket, Rother and Kahn, 2000.
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Krieg n.

"war" [German Krieg "war" < Middle High German kriec "exertion, effort, endeavor, trouble, pains, struggle, strain, competition, quarrel, dispute, fight, combat, (armed) conflict, war" < Old High German chreg "doggedness, pertinacity, stubbornness, obstinacy"].

kriegspiel, Kriegspiel, kriegsspiel, Kriegsspiel n., v.i.

from Kriegsspiel "war game": chiefly British, a game for teaching or practicing military tactics using small figures representing troops, tanks, ships, etc. moved around a large map of the terrain; a form of chess with an umpire, in which each player has only limited information about the opponent's moves [< German Krieg "war" + Spiel "game"]. This entry suggested by Christiane Leißner.

• "We then proceeded to Kriegspiel, according to the mysterious ideas of those in authority over us." H.G. Wells, The World Set Free, 1914, p. 69.
• Kriegspiel: Chess Under Uncertainty, David H. Li, 1994.

krimmer, crimmer n.

from Krimmer "Crimean": the lambskin of the karakul sheep from the Crimean region in central Asia, dressed as a fur [< German Krim "Crimea"]. This entry suggested by Christiane Leißner.

Kristallnacht n.

"night of (broken) glass": the night of Nov. 9, 1938, on which the Nazis coordinated an attack on Jews and their property in Germany and German-controlled lands, referring to the broken glass resulting from the destruction [< German Kristall "crystal" < Middle High German cristalla < Old High German cristalle < Middle Latin (pl.) crystalla < Latin crystallus < Greek krýstallos "ice, mountain crystal" < krýos "icy coldness, frost" + Nacht "night" < Middle High German naht < Old High German naht "night"].

• "I mean to say, when the Storm Troopers burned down forty-two of Vienna's forty-three synagogues during Kristallnacht, Waldheim did wait a whole week before joining the unit." Bill Bryson, Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe, 1991, p. 264.
• "Three years later came the Kristallnacht, on 9 November 1938, when the Nazis went on a rampage against Jewish property and desecrated synagogues in Austria and Germany." Hella Pick, Simon Wiesenthal: A Life in Search of Justice, 1996.

krone, kr., K., k., kn. n. [pl. kronen]

from Krone "crown": a former German gold coin; the former monetary unit or a silver coin of Austria [< Latin corona "crown"].

krummholz n.

"crooked wood": stunted forest characteristic of timberline.

• "As we emerged from a zone of krummholz, the stunted trees that mark the last gasp of forest at treeline, and stepped onto the barren roof of Little Haystack we were met by a stiff, sudden wind—the kind that would snatch a hat from your head and fling it a hundred yards before you could raise a hand—which the mountain had deflected over us on the sheltered western slopes but which here was flying unopposed across the summit." Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods, 1997.

kuchen n. [pl. kuchen]

from Kuchen "cake": a kind of German coffeecake [Old High German kuocho]. See also lebkuchen.

kultur, Kultur, Kultur n.

from Kultur "culture": civilization; social organization; culture emphasizing practical efficiency and individual subordination to the state; the highly systematized German culture held to be superior especially by militant Hohenzollern and Nazi expansionists; often used ironically or in a derogatory sense when referring to imperialism, racism, chauvinism, authoritarianism, militarism, terrorism, etc. [< Latin cultur(a) "cultivation, care"].

• "Poison gas was one of the first fruits of Kultur." "Boys and Girls Can Help", The Review Messenger, Sebeka and Menahga, MN, Jul. 29, 1998, p. B-22, reprinted from Sep. 20, 1918.
• "These were the native guides impressed into the service of Kultur and upon their poor, bruised bodies Kultur's brand was revealed in divers cruel wounds and bruises." Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan the Untamed, 1920.
• "Blood hatred of everything German had infected all of Europe and spread to America, where Hollywood produced a string of hate films such as To Hell with the Kaiser, Wolves of Kultur, and The Kaiser: The Beast of Berlin." Kitty Kelley, The Royals.

Kulturkampf, Kulturkampf n.

"culture battle": the struggle between the Roman Catholic Church and the German government from 1873 to 1887.

• "But even the latest national crisis—over tax reform—was put aside for this summer's great Kulturkampf: should die Flussschifffahrt (river navigation) be spelled with three s's and f's, or two?" Christopher Ogden, "A War of German Words", Time, Sep. 29, 1997.
• The Failure of Bismarck's Kulturkampf: Catholicism and State Power in Imperial Germany, 1871-1887, by Ronald J. Ross, 1998.
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kümmel n.

from Kümmel "cumin": a liqueur flavored with cumin, caraway, anise, etc. [Old High German kumil, kumin; Latin cuminum "cumin"].

Künstlerroman n.

"artist novel": a Bildungsroman in which the protagonist becomes an artist, musician or poet.

Kursaal, kursaal n.

from Kursaal "cure hall": a public hall or room for the use of visitors at health resorts or spas in German-speaking countries, a casino [< German Kur "cure, (course of) treatment, (medical) care" < Latin cura + Saal "hall, large room" < Middle and Old High German sal "hall, building, temple, church" < Germanic *salaz, *saliz "one-room house", related to English salon, saloon]. This entry suggested by Christiane Leißner.

• "Just before the revolution of 1848, nearly all the watering-places in the Prusso-Rhenane provinces, and in Bavaria, and Hesse, Nassau, and Baden, contained Kursaals, where gambling was openly carried on." Andrew Steinmetz, The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims, In All Times and Countries, especially in England and in France, 1870, p. 139. A watering place is (was) a health resort or spa. Kursaal is used 23 times in this book.
• "Having brought it to a close, he took his way to the Kursaal. The great German watering-place is one of the prettiest nooks in Europe, and of a summer evening in the gaming days, five-and-twenty years ago, it was one of the most brilliant scenes." Henry James, Confidence, p. 1056.
• "Down the road a piece was a Kursaal, -- whatever that may be, -- and we joined the human tide to see what sort of enjoyment it might afford." Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, 1879, p. 355.
• "'Yes, said Jill. I heard someone talking about it when I was dining with the Bedells. It sounded priceless. I had a sort of idea it was quite small, and had a prince, but it's really quite big, and it's got a king over it, and they all wear the old picturesque dress, and the scenery's gorgeous. And, if it was wet, we could go to the- the- ' 'Kursaal,' said Berry. 'No, not Kursaal. It's like that, though.' 'Casino?' 'That's it- Casino. And then we could go on to Nice and Cannes, and- '" Dornford Yates, The Brother of Daphne.
• "Warrington walked by Mrs. Pendennis's donkey, when that lady went out on her evening excursions; or took carriages for her; or got 'Galignani' for her; or devised comfortable seats under the lime-trees for her, when the guests paraded after dinner, and the Kursaal band at the bath, where our tired friends stopped, performed their pleasant music under the trees." Robert Burns, The Complete Works of Robert Burns, 1859, p. 181.
• "Remounting after a time, we sped forward, and sighted in front a dark line, but partially lit up about the flanks, with a brilliant illumination in the centre, the Kursaal of Mr. Hopkins, the local Crockford." Sir Richard Francis Burton, The City of the Saints: And, Across the Rocky Mountains to California, 1862, p. 496.
• Kursaal (Dr. Who Series), Peter Anghelides, 1998.

kvell v.i.

related to quellen "to spring, gush, well (up), swell (up)": to be extraordinarily pleased or proud, rejoice [< Yiddish kveln "to be delighted" < Middle High German quellen "to well, gush, swell" < Middle High German quellan].

• "For one thing, they give parents a chance to kvell—to bask in their children's happiness." Anita Diamant, The New Jewish Wedding, Revised, 2001, p. 111.
• "... they even poke some friends across the aisle, a couple from Mount Vernon they've just met (the Perls, Sylvia and Bernie), and these two kvell also to see a tall, goodlooking, young Jewish lawyer (and single! a match for somebody's daughter!) suddenly begin to weep upon making contact with a Jewish airstrip." Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint, 1994, p. 244.
• "Mark Rydell (very pre-On Golden Pond) kvells all the way through lunch: she walks, she talks, she spins great tales." Julia Phillips, You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again, 2002, p. 90.
• "She could have said she bought canned tuna on sale at D'Agostino's and her mother would kvell for hours about what a smart girl Sara was." Caroline Leavitt, Girls in Trouble, 2003, p. 186.
• "And my proud mom stood on the sidelines and kvelled." Connie Glaser, What Queen Esther Knew: Business Strategies from a Biblical Sage, 2003, p. 223.
• "It was a discreet affair held in the pod clubhouse, where Carol kvelled as though she were the mother, not the daughter-in-law, of the bride." Paula Marantz Cohen, Jane Austen in Boca: A Novel, 2003, p. 257.
• "Listen to me. I'm kvelling about a parakeet." F. Paul Wilson, All the Rage (Repairman Jack Novels), 2001, p. 56.
• More books and products related to kvell