different between heck vs keck

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h?k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Etymology 1

Late 19th century, originally dialectal northern English, from a euphemistic alteration of hell.

Interjection

heck

1. (euphemistic) Hell.

   What the heck are you doing?

Translations

Noun

heck (uncountable)

1. (euphemistic) Hell.

   You can go to heck as far as I'm concerned.

Synonyms

• See under hell.

Derived terms

• oh my heck

Translations

Etymology 2

See hatch (“a half door”).

Alternative forms

• hack

Noun

heck (plural hecks)

1. The bolt or latch of a door.
2. A rack for cattle to feed at.
3. A door, especially one partly of latticework.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

4. A latticework contrivance for catching fish.
5. (weaving) An apparatus for separating the threads of warps into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the bobbins, in a warping machine.
6. A bend or winding of a stream.

Derived terms

• at heck and manger

References

Further reading

• heck in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• heck in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• heck at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• chek

German

Pronunciation

Verb

heck

1. singular imperative of hecken
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of hecken

Middle English

Noun

heck

1. Alternative form of hacche

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Etymology 1

Imitative. Compare German köken (“to vomit”).

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To retch or heave as if to vomit.
   • 1728, Jonathan Swift, A Dialogue between Mad Mullinix and Timothy

     The faction (is it not notorious?)>br>Keck at the memory of Glorious:

Derived terms

• keckish

Translations

Etymology 2

Celtic.

Noun

keck (uncountable)

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

Etymology 3

From Manx keck (“shit”)

Noun

keck (uncountable)

1. (Isle of Man) animal dung

References

• 1924, Sophia Morrison, Edmund Goodwin, A vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx dialect (page 98).

German

Etymology

From Middle High German quec, from Old High German quec, from Proto-West Germanic *kwik(k)w, from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *g?ih?wós (“alive”).

Doublet of quick, which is from Low German. Cognate with Dutch kwiek, English quick; further with Latin v?vus, Russian ????? (živoj).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?k/

Adjective

keck (comparative kecker, superlative am kecksten)

1. sassy; cheeky (bold and spirited)

Declension

Derived terms

• Keckheit

Related terms

• Quecksilber
• quick
• erquicken

Descendants

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

Further reading

• “keck” in Duden online

Manx

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?k/

Etymology 1

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

Noun

keck m (genitive singular keck, plural keckyn)

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

Interjection

keck

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

Etymology 2

From Old Irish caccaid (“excretes”, verb), from cacc (“dung, excrement”).

Verb

keck (verbal noun keckey, past participle keckit)

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

Mutation