Meanings
- uncountableAny of several related fat-soluble vitamins, found in leafy green vegetables, essential for blood clotting.
- slanguncountableThe drug ketamine.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna fat-soluble vitamin that helps in the clotting of blood
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Danishkoagulation
- Englishvitamin K
Named similarly to the other vitamins, that are named after their order of discovery. This one was assigned its "K" from Danish koagulation by the Danish researcher Henrik Dam. The sense that is a slang alias for ketamine is because of the initial letter of that drug's name, as also with the slang sense of Special K.
More words from Danish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 維生素K /维生素K, 維他命K /维他命K
- 維生素K /维生素K (wéishēngsù K)any of a number of fat-soluble vitamins
- 維他命K /维他命K (wéitāmìng K)any of a number of fat-soluble vitamins
Japanese ビタミンK
- ビタミンK (bitamin K)any of a number of fat-soluble vitamins
Korean 비타민 K
- 비타민 K (bitamin K)any of a number of fat-soluble vitamins
Swahili vitamini K
- vitamini Kany of a number of fat-soluble vitamins
Turkish K vitamini
- K vitaminiany of a number of fat-soluble vitamins
Cite this entry
vitamin K. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vitamin%20K
“vitamin K.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vitamin%20K. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vitamin K,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vitamin%20K.
Source: vitamin K on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.