English
kefi
Kefi comes from Greek κέφι ‘high spirits, good humour, gaiety, merriness,…’, and goes back to Arabic كَيْف ‘state, disposition’.
- Arabicc. 500–presentكَيْف‘state, disposition’
- Ottoman Turkishc. 1300–1928كیفkeyf‘merriment, good spirits’literally ‘state, disposition’
- Greek1453–presentκέφιkéfi‘high spirits, good humour, gaiety, merriness, merriment’
- Englishearliest quotation 1994kefi
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Arabicc. 500–presentكَيْف‘state, disposition’
- Ottoman Turkishc. 1300–1928كیفkeyf‘merriment, good spirits’literally ‘state, disposition’
- Greek1453–presentκέφιkéfi‘high spirits, good humour, gaiety, merriness, merriment’
- Englishearliest quotation 1994kefi
Earliest quotation: 1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin: “‘You have too many high spirits, altogether too much…”
Linked words
through Arabic كَيْف ‘state, disposition’
Today it means
noun High spirits, ebullience, chiefly in Greece or among Greek people.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Arabic كَيْف / kefi