Kike

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Kike or Kyke is a derogatory term used chiefly in the United States to refer to a Jew.

Use of the term is strongly discouraged in formal communication by editors in most major English-speaking media outlets, with the exception of direct quotes and references to the term's use, history, and impact.

The [Interactive Dictionary of Racial Language] refers to the term as "one of the most widespread racial slurs of American origin" and "certainly the king of the pejorative terms for Jews." [link]

However, it should be noted that "Kike" is a legitimate formal first name (with different etymology) in some languages, such as Dutch and Spanish. For example, multiple-Grammy award winning Colombian composer, Kike Santander[link].

Etymology

Use of the term in print dates from the early 1900s. There are a number of theories regarding the origin of the term, the most popular and best historically-backed being:

That it began as a form of Jewish differentiation before being universalized as a slur. Hypothesized to derive from a Yiddish term for "circle" (koykel or kikel), a mark often written by Jews not able to write using Latin characters on documents, parallel to the "x" mark used in Western culture, which was seen by many Jews as a Christian cross.

Other theories include:

That the term is derived from the Latin word caeca ("blind"), coming from Pope Clement VIII's declamation of the "blind obstinacy" of the Jews.
That it was originally used by Western European Jewish immigrants to denigrate Eastern European Jews (whose surnames often ended in -(s)ky) or -(s)ki), and later by many mainstream (mostly non-Jewish) Americans.
That the term derives from the German kieken, which means "to peep." P. Tamony, quoted in Cassell's Dictionary, claims that Jewish clothing manufacturers "peeped" at fancy European haute couture, and then made cheap knock-offs.

Kike

Etymology

See also