Word.ws English Dictionary

kefir

/kəˈfɪə(ɹ)/

kefir noun: a fermented milk drink from the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, similar to yogurt but more liquid. Also the alternative form of kafir.

kefir: a fermented milk drink from the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, similar to yogurt but more liquid
Image: Quijote, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

kefir (usually uncountable, plural kefirs)

  1. (usually) A fermented milk drink from the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, similar to yogurt but more liquid.
    • Water kefir grains differ from milk kefir grains and are generally used to make kefirs based on fruit juices or sugared waters.2015, David Perlmutter, Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain—for Life, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN
    • Mason jars are great for making kefirs.2015, Kristin Merizalde, Holistic Health Basics: 5 Tips For Achieving Better Health, →ISBN

Also used as

kefir is also the alternative form of kafir.

kefir meaning in Hindi, Arabic, Persian and Thai

kefir in Hindi

fermented milk
केफिर kephir

kefir in Arabic

fermented milk
كِيفِير kifīr

kefir in Persian

fermented milk
کفیر kafir, دوغ کفیر duġ-e kafir

kefir in Thai

fermented milk
คีเฟอร์ kii-fə̂ə
More languagesFewer languages
kefir in Vietnamese
rượu kêfia

Forms of kefir

pluralkefirs
alternative formkeefir
alternative formkephir

Origin of kefir

Borrowed from Russian кефи́р (kefír); see that entry for more.

Words formed from kefir

Phrases with kefir

Questions about kefir

What does kefir mean?
Kefir means a fermented milk drink from the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, similar to yogurt but more liquid.
What is kefir in Hindi?
Kefir in Hindi is केफिर (kephir). See Kefir meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is kefir?
Kefir is a noun.
How do you pronounce kefir?
Kefir is pronounced /kəˈfɪə(ɹ)/.
What is the plural of kefir?
The plural of kefir is kefirs.

Words near kefir in the dictionary

  1. keffiyah
  2. keffiyahs
  3. keffiyeh
  4. keffiyehs
  5. kefi
  6. kefir
  7. kefir grain
  8. kefir grains
  9. kefiran
  10. kefirs
  11. Keflavik

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kefir (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-kefir.wav.

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