Probably from keijua, possibly originally as a shortening of keijukainen (rather than the other way around).
keiju
| Inflection of keiju (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | keiju | keijut | |
| genitive | keijun | keijujen | |
| partitive | keijua | keijuja | |
| illative | keijuun | keijuihin | |
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | keiju | keijut | |
| accusative | nom. | keiju | keijut |
| gen. | keijun | ||
| genitive | keijun | keijujen | |
| partitive | keijua | keijuja | |
| inessive | keijussa | keijuissa | |
| elative | keijusta | keijuista | |
| illative | keijuun | keijuihin | |
| adessive | keijulla | keijuilla | |
| ablative | keijulta | keijuilta | |
| allative | keijulle | keijuille | |
| essive | keijuna | keijuina | |
| translative | keijuksi | keijuiksi | |
| abessive | keijutta | keijuitta | |
| instructive | — | keijuin | |
| comitative | See the possessive forms below. | ||
From Portuguese queijo, from Old Galician-Portuguese queijo, from Latin cāseus, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kwh₂et- (“to ferment, become sour”).
keiju