keck

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See also: kecks, kek, Kek, kék, kèk, and K-ÉK

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Imitative. Compare German köken (to vomit).

Verb

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keck (third-person singular simple present kecks, present participle kecking, simple past and past participle kecked)

  1. (intransitive) To heave or retch as if to vomit.
    • 1728, Jonathan Swift, “A Dialogue between Mad Mullinix and Timothy”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, [], new edition, volume VII, London: [] J[oseph] Johnson, [], published 1801, →OCLC, page 404:
      The faction (is it not notorious?) / Keck at the memory of Glorious [William III of England]: []
    • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 1959, →OCLC:
      Indeed Erskine never opened his mouth, in Watt's presence, except to eat, or belch, or cough, or keck, or muse, or sigh, or sing, or sneeze.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From earlier dialectal kex, of Celtic origin, probably from the same ultimate source as Latin cicuta (hemlock).

Noun

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keck (uncountable)

  1. (dialectal) The cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris).

Etymology 3

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From Manx keck (shit).

Noun

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keck (uncountable)

  1. (Isle of Man) animal dung
References
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  • 1924, Sophia Morrison, Edmund Goodwin, A vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx dialect (page 98).

See also

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German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle High German kec, Upper German form of quec, from Old High German quec, from Proto-West Germanic *kwiku, from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (alive).

The Central German form survives in Quecksilber and erquicken. From Low German stems the doublet quick (chiefly in quicklebendig). Cognate with Dutch kwiek, English quick; further with Latin vīvus, Russian живой (živoj).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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keck (strong nominative masculine singular kecker, comparative kecker, superlative am kecksten)

  1. sassy; cheeky (bold and spirited)
    Synonyms: kess, frech

Declension

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Dutch: kek
  • Danish: kæk
  • Norwegian: kjekk
  • Swedish: käck

Further reading

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  • keck” in Duden online
  • keck” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Manx

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Old Irish cacc (dung, excrement), from Proto-Celtic *kakkā, from Proto-Indo-European *kakka- (to shit).

Noun

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keck m (genitive singular keck, plural keckyn)

  1. faeces, excrement, defecation
  2. droppings
  3. dung, ordure
  4. (vulgar) shit, crap

Interjection

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keck

  1. (vulgar) Shit!, Fuck!, Crap!

Etymology 2

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From Old Irish caccaid (excretes, verb), from cacc (dung, excrement). See Etymology 1 above.

Verb

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keck (verbal noun keckey, past participle keckit)

  1. to excrete, defecate
  2. (vulgar) to shit, crap

Mutation

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Manx mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
keck check geck
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.