kike
English
Etymology
Thought to be from Yiddish קײַקל (kaykl, “circle”). In the early 20th century, Non-English-speaking Jews that immigrated to the United States would sign papers with a circle as opposed to a more common X. The latter symbol was associated by these Jews with the Christian cross, a symbol that represented to them millennia of persecution.[1] This is the dominant etymological theory, but there are others.[2]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kaɪk/
Audio (RP) (file)
- Rhymes: -aɪk
Noun
kike (plural kikes)
- (US, offensive, ethnic slur, religious slur) A Jew.
- Synonyms: (not always pejorative) yid, heeb, hymie, sheeny, shylock
- 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--"
- (US, offensive) A miser; a contemptible, stingy person, particularly a well-endowed one.
- Synonym: see Thesaurus:miser
- That greedy kike would not give me any money when I was starving and needed food.
Translations
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References
- Rosten, Leo (1968) The Joys of Yiddish, New York: Pocket Books Cited in Kim Pearson (2003), “kike”, in kpearson.faculty.tcnj.edu, archived from the original on 2008-06-02, retrieved 3 June 2016
- Kim Pearson (2003), “kike”, in kpearson.faculty.tcnj.edu, archived from the original on 2008-06-02, retrieved 3 June 2016
Further reading
- kike on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- ekki
Norwegian Bokmål
Alternative forms
- kikke
Etymology
From Middle Low German kîken. 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)
- to look
- to glance
- to peek, peep
- to peer
- to gaze
Related terms
- kikkert
References
- “kike” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Alternative forms
- kika
- kikke
- kikka
Etymology
From Middle Low German kiken.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /²çiːkə/
Verb
kike (present tense kik or kikar, past tense keik or kika, supine kike, past participle kiken or kika, present participle kikande, imperative kik)
- to look
- to glance
- to peek,
- to peer
- to gaze
Related terms
- kikkert
References
“kike” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swahili
Pronunciation
Audio (Kenya) (file)
Adjective
-a kike (invariable)
- feminine, female
- Antonym: -a kiume