kieken

• IPA^(key): /ˈki.kə(n)/
• Hyphenation: kie‧ken
• Rhymes: -ikən

From Proto-West Germanic *kiukīn. Doublet with kuiken.

kieken n (plural kiekens, diminutive kiekentje n)

1. chick, young domestic fowl

   Synonym: kuiken

2. (by extension) any chicken

   Synonym: kip

3. (figuratively) a dumb bird, derogatory term for a (usually female) airhead

   Synonym: uilskuiken

• kiekendief

From kiek (“snapshot, photograph”) +‎ -en.

kieken

1. to photograph, take/shoot (a) picture(s)

   Synonym: fotograferen

Borrowed from Low German kieken.

kieken

1. (colloquial) alternative form of kijken

   Effe kieken wat we hier hebben.

   Let's see what we've got here.

• Used in standard Dutch contexts on occasion, colloquially and/or somewhat jocularly, imitating Low German or Low German-influenced dialects from the eastern Netherlands.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

kieken

1. plural of kiek (“snapshot”)

kieken

1. plural of kiek (“plant”)

From Middle Low German kîken, from Old Saxon kīkan, from Proto-West Germanic *kīkan.

• IPA^(key): /kiːkən/

kieken

1. (intransitive) to look

Borrowed from Middle Low German kîken, from Old Saxon kīkan, from Proto-West Germanic *kīkan.

The verb is strong in Low German, but treated as weak in standard German. Cognate with Dutch kijken. Compare also German gucken, kucken, which need not be originally related, but has probably been influenced by kieken.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkiːkən/, [ˈkiːkən], [ˈkiːkŋ̩]

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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kieken (weak, third-person singular present kiekt, past tense kiekte, past participle gekiekt, auxiliary haben)

1. (colloquial, regional, Northern Germany, particularly north-east) to look; to glance

   Wat kiekt der Typ denn so hier rüber?

   Why’s that guy looking over here like that?

   Kiek mal einer an! ― Well look at that!

   • 1920 [1910], Hermann Löns, Der Wehrwolf […] [The Warwolf]‎^[1], Jena: Eugen Diederichs:

     Er sah über das Bruch. »Kiek, was ist denn das da für eine putzwunderliche Wolke über Ödringen? I, das sieht ja meist wie Rauch aus! Aber es ist doch wohl bloß eine Wolke.«

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Although the verb itself is regionally and stylistically narrowly restricted, the phrase auf dem Kieker is in common use.
• Harking back to the original Low German word, the 2nd and 3rd person singular present often take a short vowel.

• auf dem Kieker

• “kieken” in Duden online
• “kieken” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Peter Hansen (2025) “kieken”, in Digitales Wörterbuch Niederdeutsch (dwn)