Spanish Words Starting with K

Only 61 Spanish words begin with K, and almost every one of them was borrowed from another language.

Why K Is So Rare in Spanish

Spanish writes the hard K sound with C before A, O and U, and with QU before E and I. That leaves K itself with almost no native work to do.

What remains are loanwords, most of them recent, which is why this list is one of the shortest on the site.

The K Words You Would Actually Meet

KILOS, KIOSCO, KARMA, KAYAK and KIMONO are the entries a learner is most likely to encounter, drawn from Greek, Sanskrit, Inuit and Japanese respectively.

• Kilos
• Kiosco
• Karma
• Kayak
• Kimono

The KILO Family

KILOGRAMO, KILÓMETRO, KILOVATIO and KILOLITRO all share the same Greek prefix and account for a noticeable share of the whole page on their own.

Reading a K Page

With 61 entries and a heavy tilt toward loanwords, this is a page to browse rather than to study. I in the second position covers about thirty nine percent of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Spanish avoid the letter K

C and QU already cover the hard K sound completely, so the letter was never needed for native vocabulary and only entered through borrowing.

Is KIOSCO or KIOSKO correct

Both spellings appear in this list. KIOSCO follows the usual Spanish pattern more closely, and it is the form you will see more often in print.

Are these words useful for Spanish word games

K is worth points in Spanish Scrabble precisely because it is rare, so knowing the short list here is more valuable than its size suggests.