"write a fictitious check," 1839, American English, from 1805 phrase fly a kite "raise money by issuing commercial paper on nonexistent funds;" see kite (n.). Related: Kited; kiting.
1680s, from Greek psoa (plural psoai) "muscles of the loins." Related: Psoitis.
Gk. [psoas], the gen. of the feminine noun [psoa], was mistaken by the French anatomist Jean Riolan (1577-1657) for the nom. of a (nonexistent) masculine noun. It was he who introduced this erroneous form into anatomy." [Klein]