kumis

Where does the word "kumis" come from? It comes from Turkic qymyz, and was adopted directly into English (1600s).

Kumis’s story begins in Turkic: qymyz meant “fermented mare's milk.” A fermented drink made from mare's milk, traditional across the Central Asian steppe. It reached English by 1600s as kumis. William of Rubruck described Mongols drinking kumis in the 1250s. Today, kumis means a fermented dairy drink traditionally made from mare's milk in Central Asia.

1. Stage 1 · Turkic · medieval qymyz "fermented mare's milk", a fermented drink made from mare's milk, traditional across the Central Asian steppe.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1600s kumis "a fermented drink made from mare's milk", William of Rubruck described Mongols drinking kumis in the 1250s.