KS

Abbreviation with 5 meanings

KS
Stands for	Kansas
Meanings	5
Categories	Geography & Places, Medical, Texting & Internet Slang, Units & Measurements

KS has five meanings. The most common are Kansas (US state) and Kaposi sarcoma (infectious disease); it can also stand for Kill steal, Killstreak and Kolmogorov-Smirnov (test).

Meanings of KS at a glance

#	KS stands for	Context
1	Kansas	Geography & Places › US State
2	Kaposi sarcoma	Medical › Infectious Disease
3	Kill steal	Texting & Internet Slang › Gaming Slang
4	Killstreak	Texting & Internet Slang › Gaming Slang
5	Kolmogorov-Smirnov (test)	Units & Measurements › Statistics

1. Kansas

Geography & Places · US State Abbreviations

The Sunflower State sits near the geographic center of the contiguous United States and entered the Union on January 29, 1861, as the 34th state, just before the Civil War. Topeka is the capital, Wichita the largest city, and wheat is the signature crop.

Example: The ballot measure passed in Johnson County, KS by a wide margin.

AP style uses Kan.; the Government Publishing Office and many older references use Kans. KS was introduced in 1963. Kansas City straddles the state line, so KC addresses may end in KS or MO (the Missouri city is larger). KA and KN are not state codes.

2. Kaposi sarcoma

Medical · Infectious Disease Abbreviations

Cancer of the cells lining blood and lymph vessels, caused by human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), that produces purple, red or brown patches and nodules on the skin, mouth and internal organs. It is an AIDS-defining illness and also occurs in older Mediterranean men, organ transplant recipients and parts of Africa.

Example: Violaceous plaques on both shins and hard palate; biopsy confirms KS, start ART.

First described by Hungarian dermatologist Moritz Kaposi in 1872. Its causative virus, also called Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), was discovered in 1994. In HIV-associated disease, ART alone often shrinks the lesions. Clusters of KS in young men in 1981 were among the first signs of AIDS.

3. Kill steal

Texting & Internet Slang · Gaming Slang Abbreviations

Landing the final blow on an enemy that a teammate did most of the work to defeat, thereby taking credit or loot. Common complaint in MMORPGs and MOBAs.

Example: Stop KSing my mobs, I've been fighting them for five minutes.

In older MMORPGs, kill stealing denied the original attacker experience points and loot, which made it a major etiquette violation. In MOBAs like League of Legends, KS affects gold and personal statistics but often helps the team, so many players see complaints as selfish. Used as a verb and noun.

4. Killstreak

Texting & Internet Slang · Gaming Slang Abbreviations

Series of kills without dying in a shooter, and the rewards unlocked by reaching it, such as drones, airstrikes or attack helicopters. Strongly associated with Call of Duty.

Example: One more kill and I can drop my KS, cover me.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) made killstreak rewards famous, starting with a UAV at three kills. Later games introduced "scorestreaks" based on points instead. Distinct from "kill steal," which shares the letters; the context of shooters versus MMORPGs usually makes the meaning clear.

5. Kolmogorov-Smirnov (test)

Units & Measurements · Statistics Abbreviations

A nonparametric test comparing a sample's empirical distribution with a reference distribution, or two samples with each other, based on the largest vertical gap between their cumulative distribution functions.

Example: The two-sample KS test found no significant difference in delivery-time distributions (D = 0.08, p = .41).

Named after Andrey Kolmogorov (1933) and Nikolai Smirnov (1939). It is sensitive to differences in location and shape but has limited power in the tails, where the Anderson-Darling test gives more weight. Testing normality with parameters estimated from the same data requires an adjustment such as the Lilliefors test.

More US state abbreviations

IA – Iowa
ID – Idaho
IL – Illinois
IN – Indiana
KY – Kentucky
LA – Louisiana
MA – Massachusetts
MD – Maryland

See all 51 US state abbreviations →

More infectious disease abbreviations

IGRA – Interferon-gamma release assay
IIV – Inactivated influenza vaccine
ILI – Influenza-like illness
IRIS – Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome
LAIV – Live attenuated influenza vaccine
LTBI – Latent tuberculosis infection
MAC – Mycobacterium avium complex
MDR-TB – Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

See all 92 infectious disease abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.

This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.

KS