‖ kefir
(ˈkɛfə(r))
Also kefyr, kephir.
[Caucasian.]
An effervescent liquor resembling koumiss, prepared from milk which has been fermented; employed as a medicine or food for invalids.
| 1884 Nature 3 July 216/2 Kephir has only been generally known even in Russia for about two years. 1894 Lancet 3 Nov. 1072 Koumiss and kefyr and examples of sour fermented milk containing an excess of carbonic acid gas. |
b. kefir ferment, grains, or seeds, a composite substance used by the Caucasians to ferment milk.
| 1887 in Syd. Soc. Lex. 1898 Blackman in Working Men's Coll. Jrnl. V. 60 The inhabitants of the Caucasus have kephir grains. To produce kephir, about 6 parts of milk is mixed with 1 part of the grains... Kephir grains consist of 2 sorts of bacteria and a yeast. |