# Kozak

> English word · Proper noun · frequency rank #65,245

## Definitions
1. A surname.
2. A Cossack.

## Etymology
* As a Ukrainian, Carpathian Rusyn, Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian surname, all from the noun Kozak (“Cossack”). Compare the variants Kazak, Kosack, Kosak, Kozack.
* Also as a Polish and Czech surname, occupational surname for a goatherd, from koza (“nanny goat”). This is also found in Slovene and Serbo-Croatian, though probably influenced by the sense above.
* Also as a Slovak and Czech surname, possibly from kozák (“kind of mushroom”).
* As a Turkish surname, from kozak (“cone”) or its homonym meaning "shady place," from Ottoman Turkish قوزاق.
* As a Jewish surname, from Yiddish קאָזאַק (kozak, “Cossack”), related to the first sense above.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/kozak