Word.ws English Dictionary

kava

UK/kɑː.və/

kava noun: any member of the species Piper methysticum, a plant from the South Pacific.

Noun

kava (countable and uncountable, plural kavas)

  1. Any member of the species Piper methysticum, a plant from the South Pacific.
  2. An intoxicating beverage made from the kava plant.
    • The roots produce a liqueur called kava. Kava has a mild aphrodisiac effect.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 132
    • The Nationals MP suffered the consequences of drinking an entire shell of sakau – a traditional Micronesian kava with sedative qualities made from the root of the pepper plant – in one hit, thinking it was similar to South Pacific kava. […] While not alcoholic, sakau – like other kavas served...2022 December 16, Amy Remeikis, “‘I went cross-eyed’: Australia’s former deputy PM taken to hospital after drinking entire bowl of kava”, in The Guardian

Proper noun capitalized: Kava

Kava (plural Kavas)

  1. A surname.

kava meaning in Hindi and Arabic

kava in Hindi

intoxicating beverage made from the kava plant
कावा kāvā

kava in Arabic

intoxicating beverage made from the kava plant
كَافَا kāfā

Forms of kava

Noun
pluralkavas
alternative formava
alternative formkawa
alternative formʻawa
alternative formyava
Proper noun
pluralKavas

Origin of kava

From Tongan kava, in turn from Proto-Polynesian *kawa. Doublet of ʻawa, ava, kawa, and yava.

Transliteration of Ukrainian Кава (Kava) or a phonetic respelling of Polish Kawa, from kawa (“jackdaw”); ultimately from Proto-Slavic *kavъka (“jackdaw”).

Words formed from kava

Phrases with kava

Words that rhyme with kava

7 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about kava

What does kava mean?
Kava means any member of the species Piper methysticum, a plant from the South Pacific.
What is kava in Hindi?
Kava in Hindi is कावा (kāvā). See Kava meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is kava?
Kava can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce kava?
Kava is pronounced /kɑː.və/ (UK).
What is the plural of kava?
The plural of kava is kavas.

Words near kava in the dictionary

  1. Kautzes
  2. Kautzman
  3. Kautzmans
  4. Kauzlarich
  5. Kauzlariches
  6. kava
  7. kava kava
  8. kava-kava
  9. Kavadarci
  10. kavadi
  11. kavadis

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kava (page history and authors); Kava (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-kava.oga.

Cite this entry: “kava.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kava. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.