fika

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Swedish fika.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiːkə/

Noun

fika (usually uncountable, plural fikas)

1. The practice of taking a break from daily activities or meeting with people to enjoy pastries and drinks, typically coffee.

   Synonym: coffee break

   • 2015, Anna Brones, Johanna Kindvall, Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break, with Recipes for Pastries, Breads, and Other Treats, page 3:

     Fika can be done anytime, anywhere, and with anyone.

   • 2016, Melissa Bahen, Scandinavian Gatherings: From Afternoon Fika to Midsummer Feast: 70 Simple Recipes & Crafts for Everyday Celebrations, page 65:

     Fika is casual by nature, so there's no need to get fancy.

   • 2018, Lynda Balslev, The Little Book of Fika: The Uplifting Daily Ritual of the Swedish Coffee Break, page 7:

     Today, fika is a necessary component to work-life balance.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:fika.

Anagrams

• kafi, kaif

Esperanto

Alternative forms

• f*ka (censored)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -ika
• Hyphenation: fi‧ka

Adjective

fika (accusative singular fikan, plural fikaj, accusative plural fikajn)

1. (vulgar) fucking, fucken
   • 2000 January 16, David J. Coffin, “Neĝa Taglibro (komika)”, in soc.culture.esperanto‎ (Usenet), message-ID <[email protected]>:

     Dek-kvin Dio-damnaj fikaj centimetroj da fika neĝo kaj fika neĝpluvo kaj fika glacio kaj neniu scias kia alia blanka fekaĵo falis lastanokte.

     15 goddamn fucking centimeters of fucking snow and fucking sleet and fucking ice and nobody-knows-what kind of other white shit fell last night.

Faroese

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin fīca (“fig”), from Latin fīcus (“fig tree”), from a pre-Indo European language, perhaps Phoenician 𐤐𐤂 (pg, “ripe fig”); see fig for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiːka/
• Rhymes: -iːka

Noun

fika f (genitive singular fiku, plural fikur)

1. fig

Declension

Derived terms

• fikublað
• fikutræ

Fijian

Noun

fika

1. mathematics

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: fi‧ka
• Rhymes: -kɒ

Noun

fika (plural fikák)

1. (dialectal or informal) snot, booger (a piece of solid or semisolid mucus in or removed from a nostril)

   Synonym: takony

2. (dialectal) little child or young student

   Synonyms: gyerek, kisgyerek, diák, kisdiák

3. (dialectal, archaic, derogatory) common soldier

   Synonyms: baka, gyalogos, bakancsos

Declension

Derived terms

• fikás
• fikáz

Luba-Kasai

Verb

fika

1. to arrive

Further reading

• fika in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Northern Ndebele

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-pìka.

Verb

-fika

1. to arrive

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

fika f

1. singular definite of fike

Phuthi

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-pìka.

Verb

-fika

1. to arrive

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfi.ka/
• Rhymes: -ika
• Syllabification: fi‧ka

Verb

fika

1. third-person singular present of fikać

Southern Ndebele

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-pìka.

Verb

-fika

1. to arrive

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Swahili

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-pìka.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya)

  (file)

Verb

-fika (infinitive kufika)

1. to arrive

Conjugation

Derived terms

• Verbal derivations:
  • Applicative: -fikia (“to lodge at, to overcome, to arrive at”)
  • Causative: -fikisha (“to deliver”)

Swazi

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-pìka.

Verb

-fika

1. to arrive

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

fika

Wikipedia ^sv

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²fiːka/

• audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

This sense is attested in writing from 1910. One possible explanation is that the word is formed by backslang of the syllables in the dialectal word kaffi (“coffee”), from Dutch koffie or a similar source. Another possible etymology is that it is derived from the older verb fika (desire, crave - see etymology 2), in the sense of craving something sweet.

Noun

fika c or n

1. having coffee, tea, saft (“cordial, squash”), or the like, usually with cookies, pastries, or other (sweet) snacks, usually with others, as a social activity
   • 1991, Lars Pålsson Syll, Samhälleliga val, värde och exploatering. En ekonomisk-filosofisk kritik, page 90:

     Om Nils är koffeinist, kommer han att föredra fikan med mest kaffe, oberoende av hur många kakor som kan ingå i alternativen.

     If Nils is a caffeineist, he'll prefer the fika with the most coffee, independent of how many biscuits that may be included in the alternatives.

   1. a coffee (or tea, etc.) break, when taking a break to do the above

Usage notes

Sometimes at more or less fixed times of the day, for example mid-morning or mid-afternoon, similar to English afternoon tea.

Declension

Derived terms

Verb

fika (present fikar, preterite fikade, supine fikat, imperative fika)

1. to have fika; to have coffee

   De är det fikande folket.

   They are the people that enjoy fika.

   • 2000, Arne Dahl, Upp till toppen av berget:

     Det var strax efter lunchtid, och man fikade för tredje gången denna torsdag.

     It was right after lunchtime, and one had fika for the third time this thursday.

Conjugation

Related terms

• fik

References

Etymology 2

Attested in writing from 1527. From Old Swedish fikia (“to hurry, to eagerly strive for”). Related to Danish fige, dialectal Norwegian fikia, Icelandic fíkjask. According to Svenska Akademiens ordbok, it might be related to the Norwegian verb fika (“to eagerly move ones arms back and forth”) and German ficken (“to rub”).

Verb

fika (present fikar, preterite fikade, supine fikat, imperative fika)

1. (archaic) to strive for, to work hard; to desire, often with the preposition efter

   att fika efter makt ― to strive for power

   • 1917, “Ordspråksboken 28:20 [Book of Proverbs 28:20]”, in 1917 års kyrkobibel [Church Bible of 1917]:

     En redlig man får mycken välsignelse; men den som fikar efter att varda rik, kan bliver icke ostraffad.

     An honorable man get much blessing; but the one who strives to get rich, may not remain unpunished.

2. (archaic) to hurry

Conjugation

Derived terms

• fika efter

References

• fika in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• fika in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Ternate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfi.ka/

Noun

fika

1. ash, ashes

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Xhosa

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-pìka.

Verb

-fika

1. to arrive
2. to come to

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Zulu

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-pìka.

Verb

-fika

1. (intransitive) to arrive, to reach

Inflection

Derived terms

• umafikazisina

References

• C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “fika”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “fika (6.3)”