Kiss

For the band, see Kiss (band). For other uses, see Kiss (disambiguation).
"Kissing" redirects here. For the municipality, see Kissing, Bavaria.
Maternal Kiss, a 1896 painting by Mary Cassatt.
A forehead kiss
American sailor kissing his infant son
Kissing the gospel
Graduates of the Basic Patrol Course in Afghanistan kiss the Quran after the graduation ceremony.

A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object.[1] Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, sexual activity, sexual intercourse, sexual arousal, affection, respect, greeting, peace, or good luck, among many others. In some situations, a kiss is a ritual, formal or symbolic gesture indicating devotion, respect, or a sacramental.

The word comes from Old English cyssan ('to kiss'), in turn from coss ('a kiss').

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-20240213 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).