K was borrowed from the Greek kappa, or the Oriental kaph, and finds only an ambiguous place in occidental alphabets. Priscian looked on it as a superfluous letter, and says that it was never to be used except in words borrowed from the Greek. Dausqueius, after Sallust, observes that it was unknown to the ancient Romans. Indeed we seldom find it in any Latin authors, excepting in the word kalenda, where it sometimes stands instead of c. Carthage, however, is frequently spelt on medals with a K—SALVIS AUG. ET CAES. FEL. KART.; and sometimes the letter K alone stood for Carthage. M. Berger has observed, that a capital K, on the reverse of the medals of the emperors of Constantinople, signifies Konstantinus; and that on the Greek medals it signified KOIAH ΣΥΠΙΑ, Cale-Syria. Lipsius observes, that K was a stigma anciently marked on the foreheads of criminals with a red-hot iron. For its modern use, see ABBREVIATIONS.