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In modern English language, the word kike (IPA: /'k??k/) is a pejorative
Pejorative

Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt. When used as an adjective, pejorative is synonymous with derogatory, derisive, dyslogistic, and contemptuous....
 ethnic slur referring to a Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
. In some languages, such as Spanish, this word (pronounced and sometimes spelled Quique) is a given name
Given name

A given name is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name ....
 or shortened from a longer form (usually from Enrique) and is not considered derogatory.

etymology
Etymology

Etymology is the study of the roots and history of words; and how their form and meaning have changed over time.In languages with a long detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time....
 of the term is uncertain. It may be an alteration of a common ending of the personal names of Eastern European Jew
History of the Jews in Europe

Judaism?in Europe?has a long history, beginning in the Roman Empire?period as Jews displaced after the Bar Kokhba revolt?were Jewish diaspora?throughout the Empire....
s who imigrated to the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in the early 20th century.






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Encyclopedia


In modern English language, the word kike (IPA: /'k??k/) is a pejorative
Pejorative

Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt. When used as an adjective, pejorative is synonymous with derogatory, derisive, dyslogistic, and contemptuous....
 ethnic slur referring to a Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
. In some languages, such as Spanish, this word (pronounced and sometimes spelled Quique) is a given name
Given name

A given name is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name ....
 or shortened from a longer form (usually from Enrique) and is not considered derogatory.

Etymology

The etymology
Etymology

Etymology is the study of the roots and history of words; and how their form and meaning have changed over time.In languages with a long detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time....
 of the term is uncertain. It may be an alteration of a common ending of the personal names of Eastern European Jew
History of the Jews in Europe

Judaism?in Europe?has a long history, beginning in the Roman Empire?period as Jews displaced after the Bar Kokhba revolt?were Jewish diaspora?throughout the Empire....
s who imigrated to the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in the early 20th century. The first recorded usage of the term is in 1904.

According to Leo Rosten
Leo Rosten

Leo Calvin Rosten was born in L?dz, Russian Empire and died in New York City. He was a teacher, academic and humorist best remembered for his stories about the night-school "prodigy" Hyman Kaplan ....
,

In the eyes of many European Jews, says author Kim Pearson, a cross was the sign of Christian discrimination from which they sought the refuge in the New World
New World

The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and Australasia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia, and Africa ....
. According to Rosten, Jewish American merchants continued to sign with an 'O' instead of an 'X' for several decades, spreading the nickname kike wherever they went as a result. At that time kike was more of an affectionate term, used by Jews to describe other Jews, and only developed into an ethnic slur later on.

In his book How the Irish Invented Slang: the Secret Language of the Crossroads, Daniel Cassidy suggests an alternative etymology. Cassidy notes that the Irish Language
Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
 word Ciabhóg (pronounced k'i'og) was the general term used by the Irish and Irish-Americans to denote the payot
Payot

Payot is a Hebrew language word, which literally translates into English as corners, sides or edges; in the context of Judaism, it is particularly used in relation to the head and face, denoting sidelocks, and sometimes also sideburns....
 of Orthodox Jews. The Irish word Ciabhóg means side-curl, which is what payot are.

Another possible etymology is that the term comes from the Greek word for circle, kyklos, and referenced the practice of circumcision
Circumcision

Male circumcision is the removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin ' and ' .Early depictions of circumcision are found in cave drawings and Ancient Egyptian tombs, though some pictures may be open to interpretation....
.

According to "Our Crowd", by Stephen Birmingham, the term "kike" was coined as a derogatory putdown by the assimilated American German Jews to identify Eastrern-European Jews: "Because many Russian [Jewish] names ended in 'ki', they were called 'kikes'- a German Jewish contribution to the American vernacular. The name then proceeded to be co-opted by Gentiles as is gained prominence in its usage in society, and was later used as a demeaning Anti-Semitic slur.

Another proposed theory is that "kike" is a reference to Isaac; a common Jewish, biblical name.

“Kike” could also stem from the word “keek”, a Yiddish term referring to individuals who were hired by tailors and clothing manufacturers to spy on the new designs in production by their competitors.

See also

  • Antisemitism
  • List of ethnic group names used as insults
    List of ethnic group names used as insults

    This is a list of nouns, used for name-calling in the English language, whose etymology goes back to the name of some, often historical or archaic, ethnic or religious group, but whose current meaning has lost that connotation and does not imply any actual ethnicity or religion....
     (distinct from the below)
  • List of ethnic slurs
    List of ethnic slurs

    The following is a list of ethnic slurs that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or to refer to them in a derogatory , pejorative , or insulting manner in the English language-speaking world....
  • Profanity
    Profanity

    The original meaning of the adjective profane referred to items not belonging to the church, e.g. "The fort is the oldest profane building in the town, but the local monastery is older, and is the oldest sacred building," or "besides designing churches, he also designed many profane buildings"....
     — with a discussion of how words can differ in meaning and offensiveness depending on who is observing them.
  • Yid
    Yid

    The word Yid is a slang Jewish ethnonym. Its usage may be controversial in modern English language. It is not offensive when , the way Yiddish-speakers say it....