kefir

[kuh-feer]

Middle Eastern Cooking.

1. a tart-tasting drink originally of the Caucasus, made from cow's or sometimes goat's milk to which the bacteria Streptococcus and Lactobacillus have been added.

Word History and Origins

Origin of kefir¹

First recorded in 1880–85; from Russian kefír, apparently from a Caucasian language; compare Ossetic kʾæpy, kʾæpu “kefir,” Mingrelian kipuri “milk curdled in an animal skin”