Meaning

noun the act of delivering a blow with the foot

noun the swift release of a store of affective force

noun the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired

originFrom Middle English kyken (“to strike out with the foot”), from Old Norse kikna (“to sink at the knees”) and keikja (“to bend backwards”) (compare Old Norse keikr (“bent backwards, the belly jutting forward”)), from Proto-Germanic *kaikaz (“bent backwards”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kī-, *kij- (“to split, dodge, swerve sidewards”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeyH- (“to…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0