Questions on イケてる


イケてる is defined by tangorin as such:

> noun, or verb acting prenominally: cool; with-it; turn-on; sexy

As a noun I can see it as "the state of being cool," as perhaps shown in the
following example:

> イケてるというのは中身のある人間のことだと思います。 外見で人間は測れません。
>
> Being cool is about what is inside someone. You can't judge someone on
> appearance.

*note: This example was from the Hiragana Times and thus may not have been written by a Japanese author. If it strikes you as unnatural, please say so. The translation is mine.

As a prenominal verb there is this example:

> ここはただの田舎だと思ってたけど、ここに、こんなイケてる場所があったなんて知らなかったなあ。
>
> I was thinking that it was all just countryside around here, but I didn't
> know there was such a cool place like this.

I understand these usages, however, the word itself confuses me.

What is the etymological origin of the イケ?

As a verb, is イケてる an abbreviated version of イケている?

Can it be reduced further (to the "dictionary form" of the verb) or is イケてる
the "original starting point" of the word? (In the way 食べる is the starting
point here: 食べる→食べている→食べてる)

Can イケてる/イケている be applied equally among genders?

Is it related to 行ける? (The ichidan verb meaning → : to be good (at); to go
well; —Colloquialism. .... to look (taste, etc.) good)

zokugo-dict.com says that it came from a Fuji TV variety show in the 90's, and
that it is a variation of the verb いかす, meaning to be cool or stylish (or is
it related to 生かす · 活かす?).

<http://zokugo-dict.com/02i/iketeru.htm>




I am not sure where you are confused.

  * All Japanese etymology sources I saw say it comes from いかす "to be cool" via the transformation 

> いかすー>いかしているー>行かしているー>行けているー>行けてるー>イケてる
>   * 行ける also have the meaning "to go well/to look good" and my conjecture is
> that it was taken up into the dictionaries at the third last step of the
> sequence above.
>   * I have only heard it being used as a verb, but there are some examples
> with the object particle を attached, which may only happen, when in such
> cases イケてる is regarded as a noun. At heart, however, イケてる wants to be a
> verb.
>   * イケてる is clearly a contraction of いけている, as common for all verbs.
>   * イケてる can be used irrespective of gender and also for objects, concepts,
> etc. The reason why イケメン is gender-specific, is not because of イケ but
> because of メン from the English "men" ( _sing._ man).
>

