Kia
//keɪ.aɪ.eɪ// adj, name, noun
adj, name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person who is killed in action.
- 2 A vehicle of the Kia brand.
Adjective
- 1 Initialism of killed in action. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, not-comparable
Proper Noun
- 1 Initialism of Kachin Independence Army. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
"Formed in 1961 to fight for greater autonomy for the ethnic minority of the same name, the KIA had built itself into a formidable military force, with deep experience operating in mountainous terrain."
- 2 The universal mind or ultimate power, in the dualist occultism of Austin Osman Spare.
- 3 A diminutive of the female given name Christina.
"Irene's conversation with Christina “Kia” Strömborg brought nothing new."
- 4 A Korean conglomerate company and brand name.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Why settle for a Kia when you can clearly afford an Audi?"
Etymology
From Korean 기아 (Kia), from 起 (ki, “to arise”) + 亞 (a), from 亞細亞 (asea, “Asia”), in turn from Latin Asia.
Related phrases
More for "kia"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.