kike
The origin and history of kike.
Etymology
Origins are disputed. One theory traces it to Yiddish קײַקל (kaykl, "circle"): early 20th-century Jewish immigrants to the US who could not write in Latin script reportedly signed documents with a circle rather than an X, to avoid anything resembling a cross. Other theories point to a contraction of the phrase "Ikey-Kikey" or to Scots keek ("to peek"), tied to clothing-industry espionage. No theory is universally accepted.
Class of 1900
kike first entered the language around 1900. Other words from the same year:
See the full Class of 1900 →