kuć

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kùti (“to forge”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *káuˀtei, from Proto-Indo-European *kowh₂-e-ti, from the root *kewh₂- (“to hit, strike, forge”).

Cognate with Czech kout, Bulgarian кова́ (ková), Russian кова́ть (kovátʹ), Lithuanian káuti (“to smite”), kovà (“fight”), Latin cūdere and Old High German houwan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kut͡ɕ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ut͡ɕ
• Syllabification: kuć

Verb

kuć impf

1. (transitive) to forge (to shape a metal)

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bić

   • 1823, Adam Mickiewicz, Grażyna, Józef Zawadzki, historical note 22:

     Szabla jego w Litwie kuta.

     His saber forged in Lithuania.

   • 2021, Agnieszka Szygenda, Wszystko gra‎, Wydawnictwo Estymator, page 21:

     Barnaba postanowił kuć żelazo, póki gorące.

     Barnaba decided to forge the iron while it's hot.

   • 2022, Amor Towles, Lincoln Highway‎, Znak, archived from the original on 2022-07-31, page 589:

     Lepiej, żeby kowal kuł coś innego. Na przykład, na przykład, na przykład miecz.

     It's better for the blacksmith to forge something else. Like, like, like a sword.

2. (transitive, usually in the passive voice participle) to coat with metal
   • 1895 (first published 1834), Lord Byron, translated by Adam Mickiewicz, Giaur, S. Lewental:

     Już bliżéj: Turcy — już widzę turbany
     I w srebrem kutych pochwach atagany.

     Now closer: Turks – I already see their turbans
     and yatagans in sheaths coated with silver.

3. (transitive) to shoe (to put horseshoes on a horse)
4. (transitive) to carve, to cut (to make a hole in a hard material by cutting away parts of it)
   • 1853, Ignacy Hołowiński, Pielgrzymka do Ziemi Świętéj‎, 2nd edition, B. M. Wolff, page 266:

     Liczne cysterny, czyli głębokie studnie kute w opoce dla zbierania deszczowéj wody widzieć tam można.

     Numerous cisterns, that is, deep wells carved into the bedrock to collect rainwater, can be seen there.

   • 1858, Teodor Narbutt, Dzieje narodu litewskiego‎, volume 9, Drukarnia A. Marcinowskiego, archived from the original on 2022-07-31, page 308:

     Świat się dziwił, gdy kazała kuć drogę w górach Tyrolskich dla przeprowadzenia swych wozów, tak ogromnych i ładownych, jakie jeszcze nigdy tamtędy do Włoch nie przechodziły.

     The world was shocked when she ordered that a road be cut through the mountains of Tyrol to bring through her wagons, so enormous and heavily laden that, still, none like them had ever come from there to Italy.

5. (transitive or intransitive, of a woodpecker) to peck at or
6. (intransitive or reflexive with się, colloquial) to cram, to swot; to learn by rote

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

References

Further reading

• kuć in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• kuć in Polish dictionaries at PWN