Etymology

kai

K5A1I1

Today it means: Food. Full definition →

First used 19th c.Māori kai
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kai · noun1

  1. Māori · borrowed fromkai
  2. English todaykai

Borrowed from Māori kai. Doublet of makan (via Malay) in Malaysian and Singaporean English varieties.

Kai · proper noun2

Taken into regular use in the 1990s, with earlier popularity peaks in Scandinavia and Germany. The medieval Danish Kaj is possibly of Roman origin, Latinized as Caius, like the rare medieval English male given name Kay. The German Kai may also derive from a West Frisian pet form of Gerard, Cornelius, Nicholas, or Kampe "warrior". In the U.S. Kai has also been explained as Hawaiian kai (“sea”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 19th c. Food.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.