Nearby Words

kike

[kahyk] Origin

kike

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

Origin:
1900–05; of obscure origin; the popular belief that it derives from a Yiddish word for “circle” is dubious
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Kike is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
kike (kaɪk)
 
n
slang (US), (Canadian) an offensive word for Jew
 
[C20: probably variant of kiki, reduplication of -ki, common name-ending among Jews from Slavic countries]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
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
EXPAND
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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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