cheek
CHEEK · noun
Origin
From Middle English cheeke, from Old English ċēce, ċēace, ċēoce, meaning both 'cheek' and 'jaw'. This traces back through Proto-West Germanic *kākā, *keukā to Proto-Germanic *kēkǭ, *keukǭ, meaning 'jaw; palate; pharynx', and possibly further to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to chew'.
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Journey
The Old English word covered both the jaw and the cheek without much distinction, showing that the two body parts were once thought of as one general area of the face.
Related words
It's cognate with Dutch kaak ('jaw; cheek'), Swedish käke ('jaw; jowl'), and Norwegian kjake ('jaw'), all of which still lean more toward the 'jaw' side of the meaning than English does.