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kike

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kike

[kahyk]
–noun Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
a person of Jewish religion or descent.

Origin:
1900–05; of obscure orig.; the popular belief that it derives from a Yiddish word for “circle” is dubious
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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kike   (kīk)   
n.   Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for a Jew.

[Origin unknown.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

kike 
derogatory slang for "Jew," 1904, perhaps originating among Ger.-American Jews in reference to newcomers from Eastern Europe, whose names ended in -ki or -ky. Philip Cowen, first editor of "The American Hebrew," suggests a source in Yiddish kikel "circle." According to him, Jewish immigrants, ignorant of writing with the Latin alphabet, signed their entry forms with a circle, eschewing the "X" as a sign of Christianity. Ellis Island immigration inspectors began calling such people kikels, and the term shortened as it passed into general use.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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