KAB 
5831 K A A 
K. 
K THE tenth letter, and feventh confonant, of our 
9 alphabet; being formed by the voice, by a gut¬ 
tural exprefiion of the breath through the mouth, toge¬ 
ther with a depreflion of the lower jaw and opening of 
the teeth. It has before and after all the vowels one in¬ 
variable found : as , keen, ken, kill ; clock, crack, back, brick, 
Jlick, pluck, check ; cloke, broke, brake, pike, duke, eke. It 
is filent in the prefent pronunciation before n: as, knife, 
knee, knell. It ufed formerly to be always joined with c 
at the end of words, but is at prefent omitted as unne- 
ceuary: thus, for pub/ick, mufick', See. we write, public, mu- 
Jic, See. However, in monofyllables, it is ftill retained, 
as jack, block, mock, &c. and in fome proper names. 
K is borrow'ed from the Greek kappa ; and that from 
the Hebrew or Chaldee kaph, fignifying the hollow of the 
hand, which 3 in its figure refembles ; and, when the 
lower part is elongated, we have the final kaph, °|, from 
which inverted is formed the Greek K, and, by immi- 
nution and bowing to the right fide, the fmall x. The 
Latin. C not only anfwers to the found of K, but alfo 
takes its figure from the fame Hebrew letter; for, as K is 
formed from the final as before noticed, fo C is no¬ 
thing but 3 turned to the right, according to the weftem 
way of writing. The K was but little ufed among the 
Latins; Prifcian looked on it as a fuperfluous letter; and 
fays, it was never to be ufed except in u'ords borrowed 
from the Greek. Daufquius, after Salluft, obferves, that 
it was unknown to the ancient Romans. Indeed we fel- 
dom find it in any Latin authors, excepting in the word 
Kalenda, where it fometimes ftands in lieu,of a C. Car¬ 
thage, however, is frequently fpelt on medals with a K : 
salvis aug. et caes fel. kart, and fometimes the let¬ 
ter K alone flood for Carthage. M. Berger has obferved, 
that a capital K, on the reverfe of the medals of the em¬ 
perors of Conftantinople, fignified Konjlantinus ; and on the 
Greek medals he will have it to fignify K.OIAH HTPIA, 
Si Coelefyria.” 
Lipfius obferves, that K was a ftJgrna anciently marked 
on the foreheads of criminals with a red-hot iron. 
The letter K has various fignifications in old charters 
and diplomas; for inftance, KR. flood for chorus-, KR. C. 
for cara civitas ; KRM. for carmen-, KR. AM. N. cants 
amicus nejler ; KS. chaos ; KT. capite tonfus, Sec. 
The French never ufe the letter k excepting in a few 
terms of art and proper names borrowed from other coun¬ 
tries. Ablancourt, in his dialogue of the letters, brings 
in k complaining, that he has often been in a fair way to 
be banilhed out of the French alphabet, and confined to 
the countries of the north. 
K is alfo a numeral letter, fignifying 250, according to 
the verle ; K quoque ducentos ct quinquaginta tenebit. When 
it had a flroke at top, it flood for 250,000. K on the 
French coinage denotes money coined at Bourdeaux. 
KA'A el I'BUD, a village of Arabia Felix, which is 
chiefly inhabited by Jews, who are not differed to lodge 
in the town of Sana, near which it is fituated. 
KA'ABA. See Caaba, vol. iii. p. 570. 
KA'ADE, a town of Arabia Felix, in the province of 
Yemen : twelve miles north of Taas. 
KA'AL, a river of Germany, which runs into the 
Maine two miles below Dettingen. 
KAAR'TA, a kingdom in Africa, through which Mr. 
Park palled from the Gambia to the Niger. According 
to him, the country confifts of fandy plains and rocky 
hills, the level part of it being the moft extenfive. It is 
inhabited by negroes, many of whom retain all their an¬ 
cient fuperditions, although converted to the religion of 
Mahomet. White men, he informs us, are ftrangers in 
the kingdom of Kaarta ; and Mr. Park’s appearance had 
nearly the fame effedt upon them which ignorant people 
in our own country attribute to ghofts. Mr. Park was 
well received by the king at Kemmoo, who at the fame 
time informed him, with ingenuous franknefs, that he 
could not protect him, being then at war with the king 
of Bambarra ; but he gave him a guard to Jarra, the fron¬ 
tier town of the neighbouring kingdom of Ludamar. 
From our author’s account of this war, it feems to be 
highly impolitic to liberate the negroes from flavery till 
civilization and Chriftianity be introduced into Africa. 
Kemmoo, the metropolis of this kingdom, lies in lat. 14. 
15. N. Ion. 7. 20. W. 
KA'ATS BA'AN, a town in New York date, on the 
weft bank of Hudfon’s river ; feven miles foutherly from 
Kaats Kill, and eleven north-eaft by north from Efopus. 
KA'ATS KILL, or Cats'kill, a townfhip of thirty 
or forty houfes and ftores, in the ftate of New York, fitu¬ 
ated on the weft fide of Hudfon’s river, about one hun¬ 
dred rods from its bank; five miles fouth of Hudfon city, 
and 125 north of New York. It has the appearance of a 
thriving place; and it is in contemplation to eredt build¬ 
ings on a marfhy point, on the margin of the river, for 
the advantage of deeper water, the creek on which the 
ftores now ftand being too fhallow. The townfhip con¬ 
tains 1980 inhabitants, of whom 343 are electors, and 305 
flaves. 
KA'ATS KILL, a creek on which ftands the above 
townfhip. 
KA'ATS KILL MOUNTAINS, in the vicinity of the 
above town, on the weft bank of Hudfon’s river, which 
make a majeftic appearance. Thefe are the firft part of 
the chain of mountains called the Alleghany Mountains. 
KA'AU-BO'ERHAAVE (Abraham). SeeBoERHAAVE, 
vol. iii. p. 146. 
KAA'WI, a town of Sweden, in the government of 
Kuopio : twenty-two miles eaft-north-eaft of Kuopio. 
KAB, f. A Hebrew meafure containing about three 
pints. 
KAB AL SOR, a town of the Arabian Irak: 162 miles 
weft of Baffora. 
KA'BAK, a town of Perfia, in the province of Schir- 
van : fifty miies fouth-fouth-weft of Scamachie. 
KAB'ALA, a town of Perfia, in the province of Schir- 
van : thirty-fix miles fouth-fouth-weft of Scamachie. 
KABA'NI, f. in the oriental dates, a perfon who fup- 
plies the place of what we call the notary public. All 
obligations that are valid are drawn by him ; and he is 
likewife the public weigh-mafter, and every thing of cou- 
fequence ought to be weighed before him. 
KABA'NIA, a fortrefs of Ruffia, in the government 
ofUpha: eighty miles fouth-eaft of Okunevfk. Lat. 55. N. 
Ion. 65. 50. E. 
KABAN'SKOI, a town of Ruflia, in the government 
of Irkutfk: twenty-eight miles weft-north-weft of Verch- 
nei Udinfk. 
KABAR'DA, a town of Rufiia, in the government of 
Caucafus : thirty-two miles fouth of Ekaterinograd. 
KAB'ARUM, a river of Perfia, in the province of Far- 
fiftan, which runs into the Bend Emir twenty miles north- 
weft of Baiza. 
KABAR'TA, a river of Rufiia, in the government of 
Tauris, which paffes by Bacca Serai, and runs into the 
Black Sea fifteen miles nerth-weft from that town. 
KA'BAS, a town of Egypt: fix miles fouth-eaft of 
Faoua. 
KABAS'SI, a town of European Turkey, in Albania; 
twenty-four miles north of Aleflio, 
KAB'BA* 
