yak

Clipping of English Yakima.

yak

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

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Yakima terms

• IPA^(key): /jæk/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æk
• Homophone: yack

Borrowed from Tibetan གཡག (g.yag). See there for more.

yak (plural yak or yaks)

1. An ox-like mammal native to the Himalayas, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Tibet with dark, long, and silky hair, a horse-like tail, and a full, bushy mane.
   • 2008, Scott R. R. Haskell, Blackwell's Five-Minute Veterinary Consult: Ruminant, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 619:

     Utilization efficiency of dietary protein in the yak differs with diet composition and feeding level, age, sex, body condition score, and animal production level (e.g., growth, lactation). Researchers reported no difference between lactating and dry cows in crude protein digestibility, although lactating yak tend to consume more feed than dry yak.

   • 2004, Wilson G. Pond, Encyclopedia of Animal Science (Print), CRC Press, →ISBN, page 899:

     Attempts are now being made, by selection, to create a new breed of yak (the Datong yak) from such crosses. Hybridization of domestic yak with local cattle, at intermediate elevations, has been practiced for generations. The hybrids inherit some of the good characteristics from each species, but lack the adaptation of the yak to the harsh conditions at higher elevations.

• Bos mutus
• Bos grunniens
• Bos mutus grunniens, wild yak
• Poephagus grunniens, domestic yak

Apparently an onomatopoeia.

• yack

yak (third-person singular simple present yaks, present participle yakking, simple past and past participle yakked)

1. (slang, intransitive) To talk, particularly informally but persistently; to chatter or prattle.
   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

     “You'll like Poppet. Nice dog. Wears his ears inside out. Why do dachshunds wear their ears inside out?” “I could not say, sir.” “Nor me. I've often wondered. But this won't do, Jeeves. Here we are, yakking about Jezebels and dachshunds, when we ought to be concentrating our minds […]

   • 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:

     And in the last few days Clair's boundless capacity to yak about herself while Melissa listened had turned Chip against her, too.

2. (slang, intransitive) To vomit, usually as a result of excessive alcohol consumption.
   • 1998, Tim Herlihy, The Wedding Singer, spoken by Glenn Guglia (Matthew Glave):

     She'll feel better when she yaks.

yak (countable and uncountable, plural yaks)

1. (slang) A talk, particular an informal talk; chattering; gossip.
   • 1962, Ian Fleming, chapter 9, in The Spy Who Loved Me:

     Sluggsy said indifferently, ‘You’ll be wised up come morning. Meanwhiles, howsabout shuttin’ that dumb little hashtrap of yours? All this yak is bending my ear. I want some action.

   • 1983, Nicolas Freeling, The Back of the North Wind, →ISBN:

     The sudden head-down butt jabbed into someone’s face, is a highly effective way of putting a stop to his yack.

2. (slang) A laugh.
   • 1951, Fredric Brown, Mack Reynolds, Cartoonist:

     Would-be gags from would-be gagsters. And, nine chances out of ten, not a yak in the lot.

3. (slang) Vomit.

• yacket
• yackety-yak
• yakfest
• yakky

Borrowed from Korean 약 (yak).

yak (plural yaks)

1. a traditional Korean flute used in court music

Shortening.

yak (plural yaks)

1. (slang) A kayak.

Shortening.

yak (plural yaks)

1. (slang) cognac.
   • 2018 November 30, “Bits” (track 10), in Original Sounds‎^[1], performed by Bru-C and Window Kid:

     Quick cash, flip that, now I got big cash. Sit back, sip yak with a next piff yat.

• 'kay, Kay, kay, kya

yak

1. thus

• Cyrus Byington, A Dictionary of the Choctaw Language

• IPA^(key): /jɑk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: yak
• Rhymes: -ɑk

yak m (plural yakken or yaks, diminutive yakje n)

1. alternative spelling of jak

• IPA^(key): /jak/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ak

yak m (plural yaks)

1. alternative spelling of yack

• “yak”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Borrowed from English yak or Dutch jak.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈjak/ [ˈjak̚]
• Rhymes: -ak
• Syllabification: yak

yak

1. (zoology) yak

A variant of ya.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈjaʔ/ [ˈjaʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: yak

yak

1. alternative form of ya

• “yak”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Unadapted borrowing from Tibetan གཡག (g.yag), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-jak ~ g-jaŋ.

yak m (invariable)

1. a yak (bovine)

   Synonym: bue tibetano

• jak

From Proto-Bodo-Garo *yak (“hand; arm”). Cognate with Garo jak (“hand”).

yak

1. hand

• Debbarma, Binoy (2001), “yak”, in Concise Kokborok-English-Bengali Dictionary‎^[2], Language Wing, Education Department, TTAADC, →ISBN, page 142

• (Baku, schwa-variety) IPA^(key): /ˈjak/ [ˈjaʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Hyphenation: yak

Borrowed from English yak.

yak (Jawi spelling يق, plural yak-yak or yak²)

1. (zoology) yak^[1]

The apheresis form of Malay berak, with the letter y inserted in front. A childish variant of berak used by parents to the children.

yak (plural yak-yak or yak²)

1. (childish) poo

yak

1. (childish) to defecate, to poop
   • 2017 April 17, Nurdiana Aniff, “Sembelit Masa Nak Yak”, in Blogger‎^[3]:

     Semalam kak yone tengok anak kak yone sembelit masa nak yak.

     Yesterday, 'kak yone' saw that 'kak yone's' child was constipated when they want to poop.

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

yak (Jawi spelling يق, comparative lebih yak, superlative paling yak)

1. (belacak ~), (melacak ~); to be abundant^[2]

• "yak" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

yak

1. lynx

• Ch'ina tusleb' aatin q'eqchi'-kaxlan aatin ut kaxlan aatin-q'eqchi' (Guatemala, 1998) [4]

• iac

yak m (plural yaci)

1. yak (bovine mammal)

Inherited from Sanskrit एक (eka), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *Háykas, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Háykas, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos, possibly from *ís.

yak

1. (cardinal number) one

• Knobloch, Nina (2020), A grammar sketch of Sauji: An Indo-Aryan language of Afghanistan‎^[5], Stockholm: Stockholm University

• yac

Borrowed from Tibetan གཡག (g.yag), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-jak ~ g-jaŋ.

• Rhymes: -ak
• Syllabification: yak

yak m (plural yak or yaks)

1. yak (bovine)

• “yak”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈjak/ [ˈjak̚]
• Rhymes: -ak
• Syllabification: yak

Borrowed from English yuck.

yak (Baybayin spelling ᜌᜃ᜔)

1. used to indicate disgust or nausea: yuck; ew

   Synonym: kadiri

   Yak! Minamanyak niya 'yong babae!

   Yuck! He's perverting that girl!

Borrowed from English yak, from Tibetan གཡག (g.yag).

yak (Baybayin spelling ᜌᜃ᜔)

1. yak (mammal)

• kay

From English yak, from Tibetan གཡག (g.yag), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-jak ~ g-jaŋ.

yak (definite accusative yakı, plural yaklar)

1. yak (ox-like mammal)

• Tibet öküzü
• Tibet sığırı

yak

1. second-person singular imperative of yakmak

Inherited from Chagatai یَک (yk), from Classical Persian یَک (yak).

yak

1. one

   Synonym: bir

yak

1. sweat^[1]
2. body smell^[1]

• boo-ang (“smell”)
• moorreen-moorreen (“sweat”)