# kino

/kˈiːnəʊ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/kino
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. botanical resin

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a sticky substance, like sap, that comes from certain trees and is used in medicine or for dyeing clothes.

For teachers: a brittle, dark red botanical gum or resin obtained from various tropical trees, used as an astringent in pharmacology and as a tanning agent.

- The scientist collected the red kino from the tree bark to test its medicinal properties.
- The indigenous community has long harvested kino from the bloodwood trees for its potent astringent properties and its utility in dyeing traditional fabrics.

Usage: Usually functions as an uncountable noun when referring to the substance generally.

Teaching tip: This is a highly specialised botanical term; learners will likely only encounter it in scientific or historical texts about forestry and medicine.

### 2. high-quality cinema

noun · CEFR C2 · Slang · Informal

a slang word for movies that are considered high art or very sophisticated.

For teachers: a term used in online film communities to denote cinema of high artistic merit or sophisticated aesthetic quality.

- He only watches black-and-white foreign films because he says they are real kino.
- The forum was filled with heated debates over whether the director's latest experimental feature truly qualified as kino or was merely pretentious.

Usage: Often used ironically or within specific online subcultures like 'Film Twitter' or message boards.

Teaching tip: This sense is very modern and restricted to internet culture. It is often used with a touch of irony or elitism.

### 3. grand or cinematic

adjective · CEFR C2 · Slang · Informal

describing something that feels like a great, artistic movie.

For teachers: pertaining to a grand, artistic, or highly cinematic quality in media or real-life situations.

- The way the light hit the mountains was so kino.
- The cinematographer's use of long takes and natural lighting gave the entire sequence a remarkably kino feel that resonated with critics.

Teaching tip: Like the noun sense, this adjective use is almost exclusively found in online spaces dedicated to film discussion.

## Examples

- The museum has a large collection of old kino reels.
- During the Soviet era, kino was a powerful tool for the government to spread its political messages to the public.
- Scholars often study the transition from silent kino to sound in the 1930s to understand how the medium evolved into a global art form.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.