What is the connection between kvish “highway” and kibbush, which means “conquest, occupation”; kvushim “pickles; occupied (territories)”; kevesh “movable stairway (for descending off an airplane)”; kivshan “kiln, furnace (where material is heated or smelted)”; makhbesh “(press, clothes) roller”?
The original meaning of the root k-b-sh is “to tread down, press down,” hence “to descend, pave, subdue, conquer, rape; preserve or pickle; withhold (anger, evil impulse),” as “Who is a hero? The one who conquers (kovesh) his impulse” (Abot 4:1).
It is closely related to k-b-s “wash clothes, launder,” (by soaking them in water then treading on them or squeezing them, as is still done in many places).
Yona Sabar is a professor of Hebrew and Aramaic in the department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures at UCLA.
