kiwi

• IPA^(key): /ˈkiːwi/

• Audio (New Zealand):

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• Audio (Australia):

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• Rhymes: -iːwi

Borrowed from Māori kiwi.

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 (“a person from New Zealand”).
4. (informal) A New Zealand dollar.
6. A kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa).
7. (uncountable) A green-yellow colour, like that of kiwifruit 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)

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

• (flightless bird): apteryx (dated), kiwikiwi (obsolete)
• (kiwifruit): Chinese gooseberry, kiwifruit

• Kiwi

• → Catalan: kiwi
• → Dutch: kiwi
• → French: kiwi
• → German: Kiwi
• → Greek: κίουι (kíoui), κίβι (kívi)
• → Korean: 키위 (kiwi)
• → Polish: kiwi
• → Portuguese: quivi, quiuí, kiwi (unadapted)
• → Welsh: ciwi

kiwi (comparative more kiwi, superlative most kiwi)

1. (informal) Alternative letter-case form of Kiwi (“of or from New Zealand”)

• roroa
• rowi
• tokoeka

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

kiwi (uncountable)

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

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. […]

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

• Wiki, wiki

Borrowed from English kiwi.

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

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

kiwi m (plural kiwis)

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

   Synonym: actinídia

• “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

From English kiwi, from Māori kiwi.

• Hyphenation: ki‧wi

kiwi

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

Borrowed from Māori kiwi.

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɪvɪ]

kiwi n (indeclinable)

1. kiwi, kiwifruit

From Māori kiwi.

• IPA^(key): /kiːvi/, [ˈkʰiːvi]

kiwi c (singular definite kiwien, plural indefinite kiwier)

1. kiwi (bird)
2. kiwi, kiwifruit

• (kiwifruit): kiwifrugt

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

• wiki

Borrowed from English kiwi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈki.ʋi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ki‧wi

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

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

• kiwi on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

• wiki

• IPA^(key): /ki.wi/

• Audio (Quebec, Montreal):

  (file)

• Audio:

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• Audio (France):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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kiwi m (plural kiwis)

1. kiwi; kiwifruit

   Synonym: (dated) groseille de Chine

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

• wiki

kiwi m (plural kiwis)

1. kiwifruit

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

Borrowed from Māori kiwi.

kiwi (plural kiwi-kiwi)

1. kiwi:
   2. a flightless bird of the order Apterygiformes native to New Zealand.
   4. a kiwifruit.

Borrowed from Hokkien 客位 (kheh ūi, “guest's seat; passenger seat”).

kiwi (plural kiwi-kiwi or para kiwi)

1. (archaic) plotter (in a boat)

   Synonym: rekan perahu

2. (archaic) renter or occupant in a boat

   Synonym: juru petak

• “kiwi”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

• IPA^(key): /ˈki.wi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iwi
• Hyphenation: kì‧wi

kiwi m (invariable)

1. kiwifruit
2. kiwi

• kiwi australe
• kiwi bruno

kiwi

1. Rōmaji transcription of キウィ

From Proto-Polynesian *kiu,^[1] from Proto-Central Pacific *kiu, from Proto-Oceanic *kiuk,^[2] from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *kiuk, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *kiuk, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kiuk (“cheep, peep”), probably onomatopoeic for the bird's cry. Cognates include Tongan kiu.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkiwi/ [ˈkiwi]

kiwi

1. kiwi (bird)

• → English: kiwi
  • → Catalan: kiwi
  • → Dutch: kiwi
  • → French: kiwi
  • → German: Kiwi
  • → Greek: κίουι (kíoui), κίβι (kívi)
  • → Korean: 키위 (kiwi)
  • → Polish: kiwi
  • → Portuguese: quivi, quiuí, kiwi (unadapted)
  • → Welsh: ciwi

• IPA^(key): /kiːʋi/

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

1. kiwifruit

• IPA^(key): /kiːʋi/

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

1. kiwifruit

Borrowed from English kiwi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈki.vi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ivi
• Syllabification: ki‧wi

kiwi m animal (indeclinable)

1. kiwi (any ratite of the order Apterygiformes)

kiwi n (indeclinable)

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

• “kiwi”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “kiwi”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)
• kiwi in PWN's encyclopedia

kiwi m (plural kiwis)

1. alternative form of quivi

• “kiwi”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from French kiwi.

kiwi f (plural kiwi)

1. kiwi

Borrowed from English kiwi, from Māori kiwi.

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

kiwi m (plural kiwis)

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

• “kiwi”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

• (Unguja standard) IPA^(key): /ˈki.wi/

• Audio (Kenya):

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kiwi class IX (plural kiwi class X)

1. kiwifruit

kiwi c

1. a kiwi (fruit)

   Synonym: kiwifrukt

• kivi (bird)

• “kiwi”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “kiwi”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)