Added 9 October 2026
kiss
/kɪs/ verb
In Latin: basiō, ōsculor, suavior Wiktionary
verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about kiss at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- To touch with the lips or press the lips against, usually to show love or affection or passion, or as part of a greeting.
-
To (cause to) touch lightly or slightly; to come into contact.
The nearside of the car just kissed a parked truck as he took the corner at high speed.
- Of two or more people, to touch each other's lips together, usually to express love or affection or passion.
noun
- A touch with the lips, usually to express love or affection, or as a greeting.
- An 'X' mark placed at the end of a letter or other type of message, signifying the bestowal of a kiss from the sender to the receiver.
- A type of filled chocolate candy, shaped as if someone had kissed the top. See Hershey's Kisses.
Origin
From Middle English kissen, kussen, from Old English cyssan (“to kiss”), from Proto-West Germanic *kussijan, from Proto-Germanic *kussijaną (“to kiss”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian küsje, Dutch kussen, German Low German küssen, German küssen, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål kysse, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish kyssa. Compare Proto-Indo-European *ku-, *kus- (probably imitative), with descendants including Ancient Greek κύσσω (kússō), poetic form of κύσω (kúsō, “to kiss”), and Hittite [script needed] (kuwassanzi, “they kiss”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)