‖ koumiss
(ˈkuːmɪs)
Forms: (6 cosmos, 7 cosmus, cossmos: see cosmos2), 7 chumis, 8 kumisse, (kumish), 8– koumiss, kumiss, kumis, 9 koumis, koomiss, kumys(s, (kimmiz, khoumese).
[= F. koumis, G. kumiss, Pol. komis, kumys, Russ. kumys, a. Tartar kumiz.]
A fermented liquor prepared from mare's milk, commonly used as a beverage by the Tartars and other Asiatic nomadic peoples; also applied to a spirituous liquor distilled from this.
The fermented beverage is used dietetically and medicinally in various diseases, as phthisis, catarrhal affections, anæmia, chlorosis, etc., and for these purposes imitations are also prepared from asses' milk and cow's milk.
| 1598–1630 [see cosmos2]. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 332 The Tartarians drinke Mares Milke, which they dress like white wine, and call it Chumis. 1723 Pres. St. Russia i. 276 [The Kalmucks] drink Kumis, a sort of Brandy drawn off from Mares-milk. 1771 Gentl. Mag. XLI. 594 The sour milk which they [the Tartars] drink they call Kumisse. 1839 E. D. Clarke Trav. Russia 52/1 A subsequent process of distillation afterwards obtains an ardent spirit from the koumiss. 1876 Bartholow Mat. Med. (1879) 22 By the fermentation of mare's milk an alcoholic liquor, named koumiss, is prepared in Tartary, and has been introduced into medical practice as a remedy for phthisis. 1892 Daily News 28 Dec. 5/4 Mrs. Isabel Hapgood..gives some interesting particulars of koumiss (or ‘kumys’, as she prefers to spell it). |
| attrib. 1884 Pall Mall G. 15 Sept. 11/2 The koumiss cure is growing greatly in popularity... Sometimes patients spend six or seven summers at the koumiss establishments. |