kikyam

Tagalog

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien, the first syllable of which most likely is from 雞 / 鸡 (ke, “chicken”) (as noted by Manuel (1948), though the chief ingredient of the dish nowadays is pork). The second syllable is unclear, though it may possibly be from:

From 繭 / 茧 (kián, “cocoon”). Compare Taiwanese Hokkien 肉繭 / 肉茧 (bah-kián, “ngo hiang”).
From 鹹 / 咸 (kiâm, “viand; rice topping”). See also kiyampong, tawkiam.
From 卷 (kńg, “roll”). Compare 雞卷 / 鸡卷 (koe-kńg, “ngo hiang”), though unlikely since dialects that use the pronunciation "ke" for 雞 / 鸡 would use "kúiⁿ" for 卷.

The slang sense is from the first syllable being homophonous to the last syllable of puki according to Zorc (1993).

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈkikjam/ [ˈkik.jɐm], /kikˈjam/ [kɪkˈjam]
Rhymes: -ikjam, -am
Syllabification: kik‧yam

Noun

kikyam or kikyám (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜒᜃ᜔ᜌᜋ᜔)

kikiam (Philippine variant of ngo hiang)
(slang) vagina
Synonyms: puke, kiki

References

“kikyam”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
Zorc, David Paul (1981) Core Etymological Dictionary of Filipino: Part 2, page 106
Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948) Chinese elements in the Tagalog language: with some indication of Chinese influence on other Philippine languages and cultures and an excursion into Austronesian linguistics, Manila: Filipiniana Publications, page 34
Zorc, R. David, San Miguel, Rachel (1993) Tagalog Slang Dictionary, Manila: De La Salle University Press, →ISBN, page 117
Barclay, Thomas (1923) “繭 *kién - koe-kién”, in Supplement to Dictionary of the Amoy Colloquial Language (overall work in Hokkien and English), Shanghai: The Commercial Press, Limited, page 104
Barclay, Thomas (1923) “鷄 koe - koe-kién”, in Supplement to Dictionary of the Amoy Colloquial Language (overall work in Hokkien and English), Shanghai: The Commercial Press, Limited, page 116