The eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet, K comes from the Greek Κ or κ (Kappa) developed from the Semitic Kap, symbol for an open hand. The Semitic sound value /k/ was maintained in most Classic as well as Modern Languages, although Latin abandoned K almost completely, preferring C. Therefore, the Romance languages have K only in foreign words.
In context, K by itself can stand for any of the following: