Peke is an informal short form of Pekingese, a toy dog breed originally bred for the Chinese imperial court. It is pronounced peek, one syllable.
Where the word comes from
Pekingese takes its name from Peking, the older English transliteration of Beijing. The breed was kept in the imperial palace and, by long tradition, could not be owned by commoners. British forces took several dogs from the Summer Palace in 1860, which is how the breed reached Europe and, shortly after, the show ring.
The clipped form peke followed the usual English pattern of shortening a long breed name in casual speech, the same way Labrador became lab.
How the word is used
- As a noun for the dog: She walks two pekes every morning.
- Attributively: a peke owner, peke rescue.
- In crosswords, where the four-letter form is convenient and the clue is usually lap dog, briefly.
Capitalisation varies. Pekingese takes a capital because it derives from a place name. The clipped peke is normally lower case in running text, though breeders often capitalise it.
What a peke actually is
Small, long-coated, flat-faced and heavy-boned for its size. The flattened muzzle is a brachycephalic trait, which is why the breed is prone to breathing difficulty and overheating, and why responsible breeders and vets pay close attention to airway conformation. The coat needs regular grooming to prevent matting behind the ears and around the hindquarters.
Peke, peek, peak and pique
Four similar sounding words cause persistent confusion in writing. Peke is the dog. Peek is a quick or furtive look. Peak is a summit or a maximum. Pique is irritation, or the verb meaning to provoke, as in piqued my curiosity.
The one that trips people most often is the fixed phrase peak my interest, which should be pique my interest. Peak in that position would mean bringing interest to its maximum, which is not what the writer intends. Peke has no metaphorical use at all, so if the sentence is not about a dog, the right word is one of the other three.