kai

Abbreviation of English Karai-Karai.

kai

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Karekare.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Karekare terms

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

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /kaɪ̯/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this pronunciation?) (particularly: the audio is somewhat too fast)
• Rhymes: -aɪ

kai (uncountable)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, informal) Food. [from 19th c.]
   • 1995, Graeme Williams, The soc.culture.new-zealand FAQ:

     Actually, I'm not sure I like these new hangis using the foil, it tends to stop the juices getting through to the stones and I reckon the hangi kai is drier to the palate.

   • 2003, Carmen, “Is there really a censor in NZ?!”, in nz.general (Usenet):

     Got to go now and get some kai.

   • 2018, Melissa Lucashenko, Too Much Lip, University of Queensland Press, published 2023, page 118:

     When the sausage man handed the kai over, Kerry passed two wieners to a pair of skinny white kids who had been watching the queue the whole time.

• AKI, KIA, Kia, aik

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

kai

1. house, building

   I bati an kai.

   He built a house.

kai

1. tree

   Iau a tolo puru a kai ― I cut down a tree.

• René van den Berg and Brent Wiebe, Bola Grammar Sketch, p. 57

From Mandarin 凱子 / 凯子 (kǎizi).

kai

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, slang, dated) foolish; idiotic
   • 2012, 回到三國 [Three Kingdoms RPG], episode 1, spoken by 司馬信 (馬國明):

     詰我啲兄弟，佢都kai kai地嘅。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     诘我啲兄弟，佢都kai kai地嘅。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     gat⁶ ngo⁵ di¹ hing¹ dai⁶, keoi⁵ dou¹ kaai¹ kaai¹ dei² ge³. [Jyutping]

     Humilliating my bro? He's such an idiot.

kai

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, slang, dated) to be foolish; to act like an idiot

• kai子 (kaai1 zi2)

• IPA^(key): /kʰɑj/

kai

1. wind
2. air

• Ma Guozhong (马国忠); Chen Yuanlong (陈元龙) (2012), “kai”, in 东乡语汉语词典 [Dongxiang-Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), 2nd edition, Lanzhou: 甘肃民族出版社, →ISBN, page 216

From German Kai, from Dutch kaai, from French quai.

kai (genitive kai, partitive kaid)

1. quay

Declension of kai (ÕS type 26/koi, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		kai	kaid
accusative	nom.
	gen.	kai
genitive			kaide
partitive		kaid	kaisid
illative		kaisse	kaidesse
inessive		kais	kaides
elative		kaist	kaidest
allative		kaile	kaidele
adessive		kail	kaidel
ablative		kailt	kaidelt
translative		kaiks	kaideks
terminative		kaini	kaideni
essive		kaina	kaidena
abessive		kaita	kaideta
comitative		kaiga	kaidega

Borrowed from Danish kaj, from Old French kay, cail (modern French quai), from Gaulish cagiíum (“enclosure”), from Proto-Celtic *kagyom (“pen, enclosure”) (compare Welsh cae (“hedge”)).

• IPA^(key): /kʰaiː/
• Rhymes: -aiː

kai f (genitive singular kaiar, plural kaiir)

1. (colloquial) quay

• bryggja
• atløgubryggja

Probably a clipping of kaiketi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑi̯(ˣ)/, [ˈkɑ̝i̯(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑi
• Syllabification^(key): kai
• Hyphenation^(key): kai

kai

1. probably, I guess (that) (used to express a possibility or belief of what's going to happen)

   Synonyms: ehkä, kenties, luultavasti, otaksuttavasti, arvatenkin, varmaankin, mahdollisesti, kaiketi

   Tulee kai sade.

   It will probably rain.

   Minun pitää kai lähteä.

   I guess I'll have to go.

   Lasseko tämän rikkoi? — Niin kai.

   Was it Lasse who broke this? — Probably yes.

2. Used to indicate derision or disbelief.

   Luulisi hänen osaavan. — Kyllä kai!

   One would think he can. — Yes, but I doubt!

   Annas minä autan! — Niin kai, et sinä ole ennenkään auttanut.

   Let me help you! — Bah, you haven't been much of a help so far.

3. Used as a fortifier, or to confirm.

   Synonyms: toki, tottahan

   Totta kai minä sinua uskon!

   Of course I believe you!

   Kai sinä tämän tiedät!

   You know this, don't you!

• “kai”, 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 2 July 2023

• Aki, aik.

From Portuguese cair. Cognate with Kabuverdianu kai.

kai

1. to fall

From Proto-Afroasiatic [Term?]. Cognates include Mangas ka, Polci kii, Miship ɡɨ, and Tashelhit kyy.

• IPA^(key): /kái/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [kéi]

kai

1. you (2nd person singular subject pronoun)

• mákà (2nd person singular indirect object enclitic pronoun)
• ká (2nd person singular independent object pronoun)
• -kà (2nd person singular possessive enclitic pronoun)

Cognate with Bole kóːʔiː, Galambu kā, Gera ká, Deno kàá, Mangas kaam, Goemai kāː, Polci gaam.

• IPA^(key): /kâi/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [kâi]

kâi m (plural kāwunā̀, possessed form kâin)

1. head

From Proto-Polynesian *tai (compare with Māori tai), from Proto-Oceanic *tasik, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tasik (compare with Malay tasik).

• IPA^(key): /ˈkai̯/, [ˈkɐj], [ˈkɛj] (rapid speech)

kai

1. sea

   i kai ― towards the sea

   o kai ― of the lowland, of the sea, seaward

   nā kānaka o kai ― shore dwellers

2. salt water
3. seaside, area near the sea, lowlands
4. tide, current in the sea
5. gravy, sauce, dressing, soup, broth

• Kai Make
• makai (“seaward”)

• wai
• moana

kai

1. (stative) to be insipid, brackish, tasteless

kai

1. my, how much!; how very! how terrific!

   kai ka nani! ― how beautiful!

   kai ke kolohe! ― oh, how mischievous!

• kainō
• keu

• Pukui, Mary Kawena; Elbert, Samuel H. (1986), “kai”, in Hawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN

kai

1. Rōmaji transcription of かい

From Portuguese cair.

kai

1. to fall

kai

1. you, second-person singular pronoun

• This term is used in both women's and men's speech.

• kaiboho

• Michael Dunn, Gender determined dialect variation, in The Expression of Gender (edited by Greville G. Corbett)
• David Lee Fortune, Gramática Karajá: um Estudo Preliminar em Forma Transformacional

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *kay, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ka. Cognates include Hakka 𠊎 (ngài) and Burmese ငါ (nga).

• IPA^(key): /kai̯˥/

kai

1. I

• R. Shafer (1944), “Khimi Grammar and Vocabulary”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, volume 11, number 2, page 419
• K. E. Herr (2011), The phonological interpretation of minor syllables, applied to Lemi Chin‎^[2], Payap University, page 44

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *kai; compare Old Prussian kāi (“when”), Latvian kâ(i) (“when”), Old Church Slavonic цѣ (cě, “and also, besides”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoy; compare Ancient Greek ποῖ (poî, “whereto”). Perhaps ultimately the locative of Proto-Indo-European *kʷos, kʷís (“question particle”); see kas (“what”). Also, compare with tai (“that”).^[1]

• (conjunction): IPA^(key): /kɐɪˑ/
• (particle): IPA^(key): /kɐɪ/

kai̇̃

1. (in relative clauses) when, while, as

kai (unstressed)

1. (in conjunction with interrogative words) some, a certain (suggesting the complement is a known entity, but withheld)

   kai kàs - (a certain) something

   Àš táu kai ką̃ turiù - I have something for you.

   kai kadà - sometimes, in some cases

• tai
• kas
• kad
• kaip

• kada
• kaž-, nors, bet

kai

1. all

kai

1. nonstandard spelling of kāi
2. nonstandard spelling of kǎi
3. nonstandard spelling of kài

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

From Proto-Polynesian *kai, from Proto-Oceanic *kani, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kaən (compare with Malay makan, Tagalog kain “to eat” and kanin “food esp. cooked rice”), from Proto-Austronesian *kaən.^[1][2]

• IPA^(key): /ˈkai/ [ˈkɐi]

kai (passive form kainga)

1. to eat (to consume food)

kai

1. food

• kaimoana (“seafood”)
• kainga (“refuse (inedible leftovers) of a meal”)

• → English: kai

• Williams, Herbert William (1917), “kai”, in A Dictionary of the Maori Language, pages 101-2
• “kai” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

kai

1. alternative form of keye (“key”)

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *kaay.

kai (stem II kaih)

1. to pull, drag
2. to spin (something else)
3. to play (a stringed instrument)

kai

1. to get (something)
   1. to get across (something)
   2. to go on, proceed (to another subject of conversation)
   3. to stick, cling (onto something)
   4. to get, catch, contract (something unwanted onto one's body, like bugs, mud or disease)

• According to Lorrain, this verb does have a separate stem II but it only differs from the stem I via tone.

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “kai”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

• koie (Mooring)
• Kai (Sylt)

From Old Frisian kēi. Cognates include West Frisian kaai.

kai m (plural kaier)

1. (Föhr-Amrum) key

From Old French kay, cail (modern French quai), from Gaulish cagiíum (“enclosure”), from Proto-Celtic *kagyom (“pen, enclosure”) (compare Welsh cae (“hedge”)).

kai m or f (definite singular kaia or kaien, indefinite plural kaier, definite plural kaiene)

1. quay, wharf, dock

• ferjekai, fergekai
• kaikant

From Old French kay, cail (modern French quai), from Gaulish cagiíum (“enclosure”), from Proto-Celtic *kagyom (“pen, enclosure”) (compare Welsh cae (“hedge”)).

kai f or m (definite singular kaia or kaien, indefinite plural kaier or kaiar, definite plural kaiene or kaiane)

1. quay, wharf, dock

• ferjekai
• kaikant

• IPA^(key): [ˈka.i]

  • Audio:

    (file)

kai

1. skin

• Perangin Angin, Dalan Mehuli (2023), Kamus Pagu-Indonesia-Inggris, Jakarta: Penerbit BRIN

From Portuguese cair and Spanish caer and Kabuverdianu kai.

kai

1. to fall

• kai abou

From Proto-Polynesian *kai, from Proto-Oceanic [Term?], from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kaən, from Proto-Austronesian *kaən.

kai

1. to eat (consume)

kai

1. food

• pātia kai

kai

1. not

From Proto-Uto-Aztecan *kapsi.

kai (plural kaakai)

1. thigh

• kairam

Cognate with Northern Tepehuan káídɨ, O'odham kai.

kai

1. seed

kai

1. preterite of kaayaꞌ

• Willett, Elizabeth, et al. (2016), Diccionario tepehuano de Santa María Ocotán, Durango (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 48)‎^[3], electronic edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 100

From Old Sundanese kayu, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kahiw, from Proto-Austronesian *kaSiw. Doublet of ki

kai (Sundanese script ᮊᮄ)

1. wood, timber

Borrowed from Polynesian, from Proto-Polynesian *kai, from Proto-Oceanic *kani, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kaən, from Proto-Austronesian *kaən.

kai

1. (transitive) to eat (consume)

kai

1. food

• kaikai

• IPA^(key): [ˈka.i]
• Hyphenation: ka‧i

From Proto-Polynesian *kai. Cognates include Hawaiian ʻai and Samoan 'ai.

kai (plural kakai)

1. (transitive) to eat
2. (intransitive) to eat
3. (fishing, intransitive) to bite

From Proto-Polynesian *kai. Cognates include Hawaiian ʻai and Samoan 'ai.

kai

1. (cricket) run
2. (cricket) goal, point
3. (cricket) score

From Proto-Polynesian *kai. Cognates include Tobanga kai and Nukuoro gai.

kai

1. Indicates disapproval and/or dissatisfaction.
2. Indicates regret that something didn't happen.

• (regret): kaina

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎^[4], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 142

From Proto-Polynesian *kai, from Proto-Oceanic [Term?], from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kaən, from Proto-Austronesian *kaən.

• IPA^(key): /ka.i/

kai

1. food

kai

1. To eat

• kai maʻamaʻa

kai

1. ever

• IPA^(key): /kai̯˧/

kai

1. (intransitive) to rise, ascend, go up

• IPA^(key): /kai̯˧˥/

kái

1. askew
2. low

• IPA^(key): /kai̯˧˩/

kài

1. (transitive) pull, drag, draw

• Chungkham Yashawanta Singh; Lukram Himmat (2013), A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 63