Kie³basa is a Polish word for traditional Polish sausage. The word has become a commonly used North American term for Eastern European styles of sausage, including Ukrainian sausage, which is called kovbasa or kubasa. The sausage in Poland is usually sold in two forms, fresh and dry.
Sausage
is a staple of Polish cuisine and comes in dozens of varieties, smoked
or fresh, but almost always based on pork (although in many areas, it is
available in beef, and sometimes in turkey, horse, lamb, even bison),
every region having its own specialty. Popular varieties include:
kabanosy, a thin, air-dried sausage flavored with caraway seed,
originally made of horsemeat (but today usually pork or turkey)
krakowska, a thick, straight sausage hot-smoked with pepper; its name
originated from Kraków
wiejska (pronounced in Polish /ˈvʲejska/), a large U-shaped pork and
veal sausage with marjoram and garlic; its name means "a rural one".
Original kielbasa is also called "Polska kie³basa" for "Polish Sausage" or "Kielbasa Starowiejska" known as "Old Country Style Sausage". This one comes closest to what is generally known in America as "kielbasa" (Polish sausage, Polska Kie³basa). Nowadays, many major meat packers across America offer a product called "kielbasa," but it differs from the original meaning of the same term.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/