# K explained — The Devil’s Dictionary

> Chapter companion for The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

This chapter presents definitions for words beginning with the letter K, including 'Kiss', 'Kleptomaniac', 'Knight', 'Koran', and the letter itself. It also includes a lengthy entry on 'King's Evil' that traces the history of royal touch as a cure for scrofula and satirizes modern handshaking rituals.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Religion

The entry on 'Koran' dismisses Muslim belief as foolish imposture, while 'King's Evil' satirizes the superstition of royal healing.

### Human Folly and Self-Deception

The definition of 'Kiss' mocks the poetic idealization of a simple rite, and 'King's Evil' exposes the folly of faith in royal touch.

### Social Class and Inequality

'Kleptomaniac' defines a rich thief, highlighting class-based leniency, and 'Knight' traces the decline of knighthood from warrior to dog.

## Character check-ins

### Dr. Snedeker

Cited as the erudite scholar who explains the origin of the letter K's shape.

### Unknown

The lexicographer who provides definitions and commentary throughout the chapter.

## Key lines

> Kiss A word invented by the poets as a rhyme for 'bliss.' It is supposed to signify, in a general way, some kind of rite or ceremony appertaining to a good understanding; but the manner of its performance is unknown to this lexicographer.

Kiss is a term poets created to rhyme with 'bliss'; it vaguely refers to a ritual of goodwill, but the author claims ignorance of how it is actually done.

_Satirical dismissal of romantic notions of kissing._

> Kleptomaniac A rich thief.

A kleptomaniac is simply a wealthy thief.

_Critique of class bias in labeling theft as a disorder for the rich._

> Kill To create a vacancy without nominating a successor.

Killing is the act of making a position empty without appointing a replacement.

_Cynical redefinition of murder as a bureaucratic vacancy._

> King's Evil ... The superstition that maladies can be cured by royal taction is dead, but like many a departed conviction it has left a monument of custom to keep its memory green. The practice of forming a line and shaking the President's hand had no other origin...

The belief that kings could heal by touch is gone, but it survives in the custom of shaking the President's hand, which is a relic of that old superstition.

_Satirical connection between medieval royal healing and modern political handshakes._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/chapters/k
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- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/chapters