The K reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

K

The eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet, K comes from the Greek &Kappa or &kappa (Kappa) developed from the Semitic Kap, symbol for an open hand. The Semitic sound value /k/ was maintained in most Classic as well as Modern Languages, although Latin abandoned K almost completely, preferring C. Therefore, the Romance languages have K only in foreign words.

In the International phonetic alphabet, [k] is the symbol for the voiceless velar plosive

Kilo represents the letter K in the NATO phonetic alphabet.

Meanings for K

• In baseball, K is the abbreviation for strikeout.
• In biochemistry, K is the symbol for lysine.
• In chemistry,
  • K is the symbol for potassium (from its latin name kalium).
  • k is the symbol for the equilibrium constant.
• in chess, K is a notation symbol for the king piece
• In commerce, a circled K, Ⓚ, on a food product indicates kosher certification.
• In English slang, K is an abbreviation for ketamine.
• In financial securities, K is the stock symbol for the Kellogg Company.
• In Hong Kong slang, K is the abbreviation for karaoke.
• In international licence plate codes, K stands for Cambodia.
• In library science, K is the Library of Congress classification designation for books about law.
• In Logic, K is the simplest system of modal logic (K stands for "Kripke").
• In the Metric system,
  • k is an SI prefix denoting 10³ = 1,000 (one thousand)
  • K is a binary prefix used in computing meaning 2¹⁰ = 1,024
  • K is the symbol for the SI base unit for temperature, the kelvin.
• In physics,
  • k is the symbol for the Boltzmann constant.
  • k is the symbol for the spring constant in Hooke's Law.
• In radio communication, K is one of the ITU prefixes allocated to the United States. K is generally used as the first letter of callsigns allocated to broadcast television or radio stations west of the Mississippi river.
• In music, K. numbers identify the compositions of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the catalog compiled by Ludwig von Köchel (sometimes abbreviated K.V., standing for Köchel Verzeichnis). K. numbers are also used to identify the compositions of Domenico Scarlatti in the catalog compiled by Ralph Kirkpatrick.
• K is also an obscure programming language.

Two-letter combinations starting with K:

• ka kb kc kd ke kf kg kh ki kj kk kl km kn ko kp kq kr ks kt ku kv kw kx ky kz

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