
[Yiddish shikse, feminine of shegetz, shegetz. See shegetz.]
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Shiksa (Yiddish: שיקסע, Polish: siksa) or shikse, is a Yiddish and Polish word that has moved into English usage, mostly in North American Jewish culture, as a term for a non-Jewish woman, initially and sometimes still pejorative but now often used satirically. Shiksa usually refers to an attractive (stereotypically blonde) gentile woman or girl who might be a temptation to Jewish men or boys, e.g., for dating, intermarriage, etc.
Professor Frederic Cople Jaher writes:
Among Orthodox Jews, the term may be used to describe a Jewish girl or woman who fails to follow Orthodox religious precepts.[2]
The equivalent term for a non-Jewish male, used less frequently, is shegetz.
The word shiksa is etymologically partly derived from the Hebrew term שקץ, sheketz, which means "abomination", "impure," or "object of loathing", depending on the translator.[3]
Several dictionaries define "shiksa" as a disparaging and offensive term applied to a non-Jewish girl or woman.[4]
In Polish "siksa" (pronounced "s'eeksa") is a popular pejorative word for an immature young girl or teenage girl (or, in its masculine form, "sikus", boy), as it is a conflation between the Yiddish term and usage of the Polish verb "sikać" ("to piss", "to urinate"). It means "pisspants" and is roughly equivalent to the English terms "snot-nosed brat", "little squirt", or "kid".[5]
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