ks

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ks"

Translingual

Etymology 1

From k (“kilo-”) +‎ s (“second”).

Symbol

ks

2. (metrology) Symbol for kilosecond, an SI unit of time equal to 10³ seconds.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation of English Kashmiri, from Hindustani कश्मीर / کشمیر (kaśmīr, “Kashmir”), from Sanskrit कश्मीर (kaśmīra).

Symbol

ks

2. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Kashmiri.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Kashmiri terms

English

Noun

ks

1. plural of k

Usage notes

• Opinions vary regarding the use of apostrophes when forming the plurals of letters of the alphabet. New Fowler’s Modern English Usage, after noting that the usage has changed, states on page 602 that “after letters an apostrophe is obligatory.” The 17th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style states in paragraph 7.15, “To aid comprehension, lowercase letters form the plural with an apostrophe and an s”. The Oxford Style Manual on page 116 advocates the use of common sense.

Anagrams

• SK, sk, sk.

Czech

Noun

ks

1. An abbreviation of Czech kusů ("pieces", pcs, pc).

Esperanto

Phrase

ks

1. initialism of kaj simile (“and similarly”)
2. initialism of kaj similaj (“and similar”)

Alternative forms

• k.s.

Japanese

Etymology

From consonants of カス (kasu).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ka̠sɨ]

Noun

ks(カス) • (kasu) 

1. (Internet slang) scum (reprehensible person)

   死(し)ね ks(カス) ― shine kasu ― die scum

Tashelhit

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber *ăksəʔ (“to graze”). Cognate with Kabyle eks (“to graze”) and Zenaga yukšä (“to graze”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ks/

Verb

ks (intensive aorist kssa, preterite ksa or ksi, verbal noun tayssa, Tifinagh spelling ⴽⵙ, Arabic spelling كس)

1. to graze, to pasture
2. to herd, to drive
3. to gather (pollen)
4. to protect

Derived terms

• amksa (“shepherd”)
• asksa (“meadow”)
• tayssa (“herding, pasturing”)

References

• Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 2 F–L (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/2) (in French), Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 1253a