Koumis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A traditional beverage originating from the fermentation of mare's milk, widely recognized in certain Central Asian regions
2. This unique drink results from the lacto-fermentation process of horse milk and holds cultural significance among nomadic peoples
3. A beverage made through the fermentation of mare's milk, commonly consumed in some Central Asian cultures and valued for its nutritional properties

Etymology: Among the Turkic and Mongolic peoples of the steppe, fermented mare's milk was a staple long before European travellers wrote about it, and the name came into European languages from those peoples rather than from Latin or Greek. The Turkic word, in forms such as Kazakh and Kyrgyz "kymyz" and Tatar "qımız," passed into Russian as "kumys," and from Russian it reached Western European languages in the form we know. Travel accounts of Central Asia and Russia are the usual route by which it entered English, with spellings varying widely (kumis, kumiss, koumiss) before the modern forms settled. The Turkic term is a local word for the drink itself, not a borrowing of a classical concept, and its own deeper origin is uncertain among specialists. What is clear is that the drink, produced by repeatedly churning mare's milk while it sours, was a seasonal mainstay of nomadic herding life, and the word carried that practice with it into the languages of its neighbours.