kike

See also: Kike

English

Etymology

Probably from Yiddish קײַקל‎ (kaykl, “circle”). In the early 20th century, illiterate Jews immigrating to the United States would sign papers with a circle as opposed to a more common X, the latter being associated by Jews with the Christian cross. This is the dominant etymological theory, but there are others.[1]

Pronunciation
  • Rhymes: -aɪk

Noun

kike (plural kikes)

  1. (US, offensive, ethnic slur, religious slur) A Jew.
    Synonyms: hymie, sheeny, yid
    • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, “24”, in Babbitt:
      "Now you quit kidding me! What's the nice little name?" "Oh, it ain't so darn nice. I guess it's kind of kike. But my folks ain't kikes. My papa's papa was a nobleman in Poland, and there was a gentleman in here one day, he was kind of a count or something--"
  2. (US, offensive) A contemptible person, especially one who is stingy.
    That greedy kike would not give me any money when I was starving and needed food.

Translations

References
  1. Kim Pearson (2003), “kike”, in kpearson.faculty.tcnj.edu‎, archived from the original on 2 June 2008, retrieved 3 June 2016

Further reading

Anagrams

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle Dutch kiken. Related to Swedish kika.

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /çiːke/, [çiːkə]

Verb

kike (imperative kik, present tense kiker, past tense keik or kek, past participle kiket, present participle kikende)

  1. to look
  2. to glance
  3. to peek, peep
  4. to peer
  5. to gaze

References

“kike” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle Low German kiken

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /²çiːkə/

Verb

kike (imperative kik, present tense kik or kikar, past tense keik or kika, past participle kike or kika, present participle kikande)

  1. to look
  2. to glance
  3. to peek, peep
  4. to peer
  5. to gaze

References

“kike” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swahili

Adjective

kike

  1. female (belonging to the sex with larger, fertilizable gametes)


This Swahili entry was created from the translations listed at female. It may be less reliable than other entries, and may be missing parts of speech or additional senses. Please also see kike in the Swahili Wiktionary. This notice will be removed when the entry is checked. (more information) July 2009

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.