koumiss

1 9.9

An alcoholic drink from central Asia made by fermenting mare's milk

noun
/ˈkuːmɪs/

: koumiss

During their travels through Mongolia, the explorers enjoyed sipping koumiss while learning about the local customs.

Examples

At the nomadic festival, visitors were eager to taste koumiss, a traditional drink made from fermented mare's milk.
The Mongols prayed to her for fertility, fecundity, and the growth of the herd; they offered her milk, koumiss, a fermented alcoholic drink made of mare's milk, and tea.

Academic text (2000)
In the cool evening, the family gathered to share stories and drink koumiss, celebrating their heritage and traditions.

Synonyms

kumis

vskoumiss

9.9

A fermented alcoholic drink made from a female horse's milk

is the same drink but represented by an alternate spelling form

Surface Forms

koumiss singular

koumisses plural

Etymology

Koumiss comes from a Turkic word kımız, which means 'mare's milk' and named the traditional fermented drink of Central Asian nomads. So, koumiss today is the slightly sour, alcoholic drink made by fermenting mare's milk and is also called airag in Mongolian.