Wiktionary

kex

English

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Middle English kex. Origin unknown; but compare Welsh cecys (“hollow stalks”) and Welsh cegid (“hemlock”), apparently from the same source as Latin cicūta (“hemlock”).

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

kex (plural kexes)

  1. (obsolete or dialectal) The dried stem of certain large herbaceous plants.
  2. (obsolete, botany) A plant having such a stem; a weed, a kecksy.
  3. (rare) A dry husk or covering.
    • 1972, Vladimir Nabokov, Transparent Things, McGraw-Hill, published 1972, pages 100–101:
      On the bedside table a new package of cigarettes and a traveling clock had for neighbor a nicely wrapped box containing the green figurine of a girl skier which shone through the double kix.

Icelandic

edit
 
Peanut butter cookies.

Etymology

edit

From Danish kiks (“cracker”) (older keks), in turn borrowed from English cakes, plural of cake, Middle English cake, kake, which was itself borrowed from the ancestor of Icelandic, Old Norse: kex is therefore a doublet of kaka. Further back from Proto-Germanic *kakǭ.[1]

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /cʰɛks/, /cʰɛxs/

Noun

edit

kex n (genitive singular kex, nominative plural kex)

  1. cookie, cracker, (UK) biscuit

Declension

edit
    Declension of kex
n-s singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative kex kexið kex kexin
accusative kex kexið kex kexin
dative kexi kexinu kexum kexunum
genitive kex kexins kexa kexanna

Derived terms

edit
Derived terms

References

edit
  1. ^ Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon — Íslensk orðsifjabók, 1st edition, 2nd printing (1989). Reykjavík, Orðabók Háskólans, page 458. (Available on Málið.is under the “Eldra mál” tab.)

Middle English

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

Unknown. Possibly from a Celtic and/or substrate language. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

kex (plural kexis)

  1. Any dried stem of a plant with a hollow interior.
  2. (rare) A plant having a hollow stem; a member of the family Umbelliferae.

Descendants

edit
  • English: kex, kix
  • Scots: kex

References

edit

Swedish

edit
 
Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv
 
kex (saltiner)
 
grahamskex [graham crackers]
 
digestivekex [digestive biscuits]

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From English cakes, plural of cake, from Middle English cake, from Old Norse kaka (whence also kaka), from Proto-Germanic *kakǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *gog-.

The reason why the word is lent in the plural is because it is easier to apply the Swedish declension patterns with cakes than with cake. Compare the similar loans räls and muffins. Compare Danish kiks (similarly borrowed from English).

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): (Svealand, Norrland) /kɛks/, (Götaland) /ɕɛks/

Noun

edit

kex n

  1. a cracker, (UK) a biscuit
    ost och kex
    cheese and crackers / biscuits
  2. (slang) someone physically attractive
    Tjena kexet, står du här och smular?
    Hello biscuit, are you standing here crumbling?

Usage notes

edit

(Tongue-in-cheek) debate over pronunciation – see IPA above.

Declension

edit
Declension of kex
nominative genitive
singular indefinite kex kex
definite kexet kexets
plural indefinite kex kex
definite kexen kexens

Descendants

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=kex&oldid=81909960"