kiwi

See also: Kiwi

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkiːwi/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːwi

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Maori kiwi.

Noun

kiwi (countable and uncountable, plural kiwi or kiwis)

2. A flightless bird of the order Apterygiformes native to New Zealand.
3. Alternative letter-case form of Kiwi (“person from New Zealand”).
4. (informal) A New Zealand dollar.
6. A kiwi fruit.
7. (uncountable) A green-yellow colour, like that of kiwi fruit flesh (also called kiwi green).

   kiwi:  

8. (military, slang) A member of the air force who does not fly.
   • 1953, Air Force: Official Service Journal of the U.S. Army Air Forces:

     And as its role grew in importance, ground commanders, or kiwis as they were called, made many mistakes in judgment […]

9. (slang, usually in the plural) A testicle.
   • 1995, “Wynona's Big Brown Beaver”, performed by Primus:

     Now Rex he was a Texan out of New Orleans and he travelled with the carnival shows
     He ran bumper cars, sucked cheap cigars and he candied up his nose
     He got wind of the big brown beaver so he thought he'd take himself a peek
     But the beaver was quick and he grabbed him by the kiwis
     And he ain't pissed for a week (and a half)

Usage notes

• When used to describe people, Kiwi is usually capitalised.
• The plural is usually kiwis; sometimes, kiwi is found as an (invariant) plural form.

Synonyms

• (flightless bird): apteryx
• (kiwi fruit): Chinese gooseberry (dated), kiwi fruit

Derived terms

• common kiwi
• great spotted kiwi
• hardy kiwi
• kiwi berry
• kiwirita
• kiwitini
• little spotted kiwi
• North Island brown kiwi
• Okarito brown kiwi
• Okarito kiwi
• southern brown kiwi

Related terms

• Kiwi

Descendants

• → Catalan: kiwi
• → Dutch: kiwi
• → French: kiwi
• → German: Kiwi
• → Korean: 키위 (kiwi)
• → Polish: kiwi
• → Portuguese: quivi, quiuí, kiwi (unadapted)

Translations

bird

Afrikaans: kiwi Arabic: كِيوِي m (kiwī) Egyptian Arabic: كيوي m (kiwi) Moroccan Arabic: كيوي (kiwi) Armenian: please add this translation if you can Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܟܝܼܘܝܼ m (kīwī) Azerbaijani: kivi (az) Basque: kiwi (eu) Bulgarian: ки́ви (kívi) Catalan: kiwi (ca) m Cherokee: ᎩᏫ-ᏥᏍᏆ (giwi-tsisqua) Chinese: Mandarin: 無翼鳥 / 无翼鸟 (zh) (wúyìniǎo), 鷸鴕 / 鹬鸵 (zh) (yùtuó), 幾維鳥 / 几维鸟 (zh) (jīwéiniǎo), 奇異鳥 / 奇异鸟 (zh) (qíyìniǎo), 奇威鳥 / 奇威鸟 (qíwēiniǎo) Czech: kivi (cs) n Danish: kiwi Dutch: kiwi (nl) m Esperanto: apterigedo Finnish: kiivi (fi) French: kiwi (fr) m Georgian: კივი (ḳivi), კივისნაირნი (ḳivisnairni) German: Kiwi (de) m Greek: απτέρυξ (el) m (aptéryx) Hindi: कीवी m (kīvī) Hungarian: kivifélék Irish: cíobhaí m Italian: kiwi (it) m Japanese: キーウィ (ja) (kīwi) Kazakh: киви (kivi) Korean: 키위 (ko) (kiwi) Kriol: kiwi Lithuanian: kivis Lombard: perodegh (western Lombard) Macedonian: киви n (kivi) Maltese: kiwi Maori: kiwi Navajo: łeesdísí Norwegian: kivi Nynorsk: kivi Polish: kiwi (pl) n Portuguese: quivi (pt) m, quiuí (pt) m, kiwi (pt) m Quechua: kiwi p'isqu Romanian: kiwi (ro) m Russian: ки́ви (ru) f (kívi) Samoan: kiui Slovak: kivi (sk) m Spanish: kiwi (es) m (etymological), kivi (es) m (nonetymological) Swedish: kivi (sv) c, kivifågel (sv) c Turkish: kivi (tr) Uyghur: كىۋى (kiwi) Welsh: ciwi m, ciwïod m pl Yiddish: קיווי m (kivi)

kiwi fruit — see kiwi fruit

See also

• roroa
• rowi
• tokoeka

Etymology 2

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Kiwi (shoe polish)

Wikipedia

Genericized trademark from the brand of shoe polish originating in Australia, from Maori kiwi.

Noun

kiwi (uncountable)

1. (Singapore, military, slang) Any kind of black shoe polish.

Verb

kiwi (third-person singular simple present kiwis, present participle kiwiing or kiwi-ing, simple past and past participle kiwied)

1. (Singapore, military, slang) To polish (boots) with black shoe polish.
   • 1987, Michael Chiang, Army Daze, Landmark Books, →ISBN:

     Johari Salleh: Ya, ya. Better not waste time. Must prepare, tomorrow morning got inspection.
     Teo Ah Beng: Ya lah, must kiwi the boots. Can borrow [lend] me your cloth?
     Krishnamoorthy: Ya, no problem. You better kiwi quickly. 11 pm lights off. […]

Further reading

• kiwi (bird) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• kiwifruit on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Wiki, wiki

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from English kiwi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈki.wi]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

kiwi m (plural kiwis)

1. kiwi (bird)
2. kiwi (fruit)

   Synonym: actinídia

Further reading

• “kiwi”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Cebuano

Etymology

From English kiwi, from Maori kiwi.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ki‧wi

Noun

kiwi

1. a kiwi fruit
2. a kiwi; a flightless bird of the genus Apteryx

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Maori kiwi. The fruit is named after the bird.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɪvɪ]

Noun

kiwi n (indeclinable)

1. kiwi, kiwi fruit

Danish

Etymology

From Maori kiwi. The fruit is named after the bird.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kiːvi/, [ˈkʰiːvi]

Noun

kiwi c (singular definite kiwien, plural indefinite kiwier)

1. kiwi (bird)
2. kiwi, kiwi fruit

Inflection

Declension of kiwi

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	kiwi	kiwien	kiwier	kiwierne
genitive	kiwis	kiwiens	kiwiers	kiwiernes

Synonyms

• (kiwi fruit): kiwifrugt

Further reading

• kiwi on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da
• Kiwier on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da
• Kiwi (frugt) on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Anagrams

• wiki

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English kiwi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈki.ʋi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ki‧wi

Noun

kiwi m (plural kiwi's, diminutive kiwietje n)

1. kiwi (bird of the genus Apteryx)
2. kiwi plant, Actinidia deliciosa syn. Actinidia chinensis var. hispida
3. kiwi fruit, kiwi

Derived terms

• kiwiplant
• zuidereilandkiwi

Further reading

• kiwi on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

Anagrams

• wiki

French

French Wikipedia has an article on:

kiwi

Wikipedia ^fr

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ki.wi/

• Audio (Quebec, Montreal):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

kiwi m (plural kiwis)

1. kiwi; kiwi fruit

Further reading

• “kiwi”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• wiki

Galician

Noun

kiwi m (plural kiwis)

1. kiwi fruit

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:

kiwi

Wikipedia ^it

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈki.wi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iwi
• Hyphenation: kì‧wi

Noun

kiwi m (invariable)

1. kiwi fruit
2. kiwi

Derived terms

• kiwi australe
• kiwi bruno

Japanese

Romanization

kiwi

1. Rōmaji transcription of キウィ

Maori

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *kiu, from Proto-Oceanic *kiuk, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kiuk (“cheep, peep”), probably onomatopoeic for the bird's cry.

Noun

kiwi

1. kiwi (bird)

Descendants

• → English: kiwi
  • → Catalan: kiwi
  • → Dutch: kiwi
  • → French: kiwi
  • → German: Kiwi
  • → Korean: 키위 (kiwi)
  • → Polish: kiwi
  • → Portuguese: quivi, quiuí, kiwi (unadapted)

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kiːʋi/

Noun

kiwi m (definite singular kiwien, indefinite plural kiwier, definite plural kiwiene)

1. kiwi fruit

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kiːʋi/

Noun

kiwi m (definite singular kiwien, indefinite plural kiwiar, definite plural kiwiane)

1. kiwi fruit

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

kiwi

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Borrowed from English kiwi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈki.vi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ivi
• Syllabification: ki‧wi

Noun

kiwi m animal (indeclinable)

1. kiwi (any ratite of the order Apterygiformes)

Noun

kiwi n (indeclinable)

1. kiwi (any tree of the genus Actinidia)
2. kiwi, kiwi fruit (fruit of the kiwi)

Further reading

• kiwi in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• kiwi in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• kiwi in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kiˈwi/, /kiˈvi/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kiˈwi/, /kiˈvi/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kiˈwi/, /kiˈvi/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kiˈwi/, /kiˈbi/ [kiˈβi]

Noun

kiwi m (plural kiwis)

1. alternative form of quivi

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French kiwi.

Noun

kiwi f (plural kiwi)

1. kiwi

Declension

Declension of kiwi

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	kiwi	kiwiul		kiwi	kiwile
genitive-dative	kiwi	kiwii		kiwi	kiwilor
vocative	—			—

Spanish

Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:

Kiwi

Wikipedia ^es

Etymology

Borrowed from English kiwi, from Maori kiwi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkiwi/ [ˈki.wi]
• Rhymes: -iwi
• Syllabification: ki‧wi

Noun

kiwi m (plural kiwis)

1. kiwi (bird)
2. kiwi (fruit)

Further reading

• “kiwi”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Swahili

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

kiwi class IX (plural kiwi class X)

1. kiwi fruit

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

kiwi

Wikipedia ^sv

Noun

kiwi c

1. a kiwi (fruit)

   Synonym: kiwifrukt

Declension

Declension of kiwi

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	kiwi	kiwis
	definite	kiwin	kiwins
plural	indefinite	kiwier	kiwiers
	definite	kiwierna	kiwiernas

See also

• kivi (bird)

References

• kiwi in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• kiwi in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)