kurken

Kurken is a Dutch noun that functions as the plural of kurk, meaning corks. In everyday Dutch, kurken refers to multiple cork stoppers used to seal containers, especially wine bottles. The word is commonly encountered in contexts related to wine, packaging, and related goods.

Cork is harvested from the bark of the cork oak, Quercus suber, a tree native to the Mediterranean region. The bark is stripped in cycles, and the raw material is processed into stoppers, insulation, and various crafts. Cork stoppers have properties of elasticity, resilience, and impermeability, which help preserve the contents of sealed containers. In recent years, synthetic closures have increased in use, though cork remains common in wine production.

Beyond its Dutch meaning, Kurken may occasionally appear as a proper noun in regional names or surnames, but there is no widely documented, single notable entity that uses Kurken as a geographical or personal name. The term remains primarily a lexical form for corks in Dutch.