کس

See also: كس, کش, and گس

Persian

Etymology 1

From Middle Persian AYŠ (kas, “person, somebody”).

Pronunciation

Readings
Classical reading?	k
Dari reading?	k
Iranian reading?	k
Tajik reading?	k

Noun

کس • (kas) (plural کسان (kasân))

1. (archaic) person
2. one, person, somebody (in relative clauses)
   • c. 1260, Rumi, “2:1080−1081”, in The Masnavi:

     چون کسی کاو از مرض گل داشت دوست، گر چه پندارد که آن خود قوت اوست، قوت اصلی را فرامش کرده است، روی در قوت مرض آورده است.

     čon kas-i k-u az maraz gel dâšt dust, gar če pendârad ke ân xod qut-e u-st, qut-e asli-râ farâmuš karde ast, ruy dar qut-e maraz âvorde ast.

     As [in the case of] one who from disease has become fond of [eating] clay—though he may suppose that that [clay] is indeed his [natural] food, he has [in reality] forgotten his original food and has betaken himself to the food of disease.

     (Reynold A. Nicholson translation)

Related terms

• کسی (kasi)
• هیچ‌کس (hich-kas)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Indo-European *kuḱis (“(female) pubic hair; vulva”). Cognate with Northern Kurdish quz (“vagina, vulva, cunt, pussy”), Hawrami [script needed] (kʷsî, “vulva”), Lithuanian kūšỹs (“pubic hair, vulva”) and Latvian kūsis (“public hair, vulva”). Possibly a euphemism from the older meaning "belly", preserved in Sanskrit कुक्षि (kukṣí, “belly”). Old Armenian կոյս (koys, “virgin”) may be an Iranian borrowing. Note also Ancient Greek κυσός (kusós, “vagina; anus”).

Alternative forms

• کوس

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kʰos]

Noun

کس • (kos) (plural کس‌ها (kos-hâ))

1. (vulgar, slang) pussy, cunt, fanny
2. (slang) an attractive girl or woman

Descendants

• → Arabic: كُس (kus)
  • → Hebrew: כּוּס (kus)

References

• Chyet, Michael L. (2003) “quz”, in Kurdish–English Dictionary‎^[1], with selected etymologies by Martin Schwartz, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, page 498b
• Edelʹman, D. I. (2011) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume IV, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pages 411–412
• Horn, Paul (1893) Grundriss der neupersischen Etymologie (in German), Strasbourg: K.J. Trübner, § 852, page 190
• Hübschmann, Heinrich (1895) Persische Studien [Persian Studies] (in German), Strasbourg: K.J. Trübner, page 87
• Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 507

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Urdu

Pronoun

1. Indirect form of کیا (kyā).
2. Indirect form of کون (kaun).