Description of a Kuvasz.

The Kuvasz (pronounced KOO-vahss; in Hungarian language the plural is Kuvaszok, pronounced KOO-vah-sock) is a dog breed of ancient Hungarian origin. Mention of the breed can be found in old Hungarian texts. It has historically been used to guard livestock, but has been increasingly found in homes as a pet over the last seventy years.

The word, contrary to some theories, is probably not of Sumerian origin. It most likely comes from the Turkic word kavas meaning guard or soldier or kuwasz meaning protector. A related theory posits that the word may have originated from the ancient farmers of Russia, the Chuvash, who nurtured the breed for generations and contributed many words to the Hungarian language. The Sumerian-origin theory hypothesizes that the name comes from the Sumerian phrase Ku Assa, meaning dog of the horse, and that the Hungarian word kutya, meaning dog, is also derived from ancient Sumerian.