cat

cat

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of cat in English

English Online Dictionary. What means cat‎? What does cat mean?

Translingual

Symbol

cat

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Catalan.

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) enPR: kăt, IPA(key): /kæt/, [kʰæt], [kʰæʔ]
  • (UK, Canada) IPA(key): /kat/
  • Homophones: Cat, Kat, khat, qat
  • Hyphenation: cat
  • Rhymes: -æt

Etymology 1

From Middle English cat, catte, from Old English catt (“male cat”), catte (“female cat”), from Proto-West Germanic *kattu, from Proto-Germanic *kattuz, generally thought to be from Late Latin cattus (“domestic cat”) (c. 350, Palladius), from Latin catta (c. 75 A.D., Martial), from an Afroasiatic language. This would roughly match how domestic cats themselves spread, as genetic studies suggest they began to spread out of the Near East / Fertile Crescent during the Neolithic (being in Cyprus by 9500 years ago, and Greece and Italy by 2500 years ago), especially after they became popular in Egypt. However, every proposed source word has presented problems. Adolphe Pictet and many subsequent sources refer to Barabra (Nubian) [script needed] (kaddîska) and "Nouba" (Nobiin) ⲕⲁⲇⲓ̄ⲥ (kadīs, “kadīs”) as possible sources or cognates, but M. Lionel Bender says the Nubian word is a loan from Arabic قِطَّة (qiṭṭa). Jean-Paul Savignac suggests the Latin word is from an Egyptian precursor of Coptic ϣⲁⲩ (šau, “tomcat”) suffixed with feminine -t, but John Huehnergard says "the source [...] was clearly not Egyptian itself, where no analogous form is attested."

It may be a Wanderwort. Kroonen says the word must have existed in Germanic from a very early date, as it shows morphological alternations, and suggests that it might have been borrowed from Uralic, compare Northern Sami gađfe (“female stoat”) and Hungarian hölgy (“stoat; lady, bride”) from Proto-Uralic *käďwä (“female (of a fur animal)”).

Alternative forms

  • catte (obsolete)

Noun

cat (countable and uncountable, plural cats)

  1. An animal of the family Felidae:
    Synonyms: felid, feline, (member of the subfamily Pantherinae) pantherine, (technically, all members of the genus Panthera) panther
    2. A domesticated species (Felis catus) of feline animal, commonly kept as a house pet. [from 8thc.]
      Synonyms: puss, pussy, kitty, pussy-cat, kitty-cat, grimalkin; see also Thesaurus:cat
      Hypernyms: housecat, malkin, kitten, mouser, tomcat
    3. Any similar animal of the family Felidae, which includes lions, tigers, bobcats, leopards, cougars, cheetahs, caracals, lynxes, and other such non-domesticated species.
  2. (uncountable) The meat of this animal, eaten as food.
    Synonyms: catflesh, cat meat, gutter rabbit (euphemistic), roof rabbit (euphemistic)
  3. A person:
    1. (offensive) A spiteful or angry woman. [from early 13thc.]
      Synonym: bitch
    2. An enthusiast or player of jazz.
      jazz cat
    3. (slang) A person (usually male).
      Synonyms: bloke, chap, cove, dude, fellow, fella, guy; see also Thesaurus:man
      • 1973 December, "Books Noted", discussing A Dialogue (by James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni), in Black World, Johnson Publishing Company, 77.
        BALDWIN: That's what we were talking about before. And by the way, you did not have to tell me that you think your father is a groovy cat; I knew that.
    4. (slang) A prostitute. [from at least early 15thc.]
  4. (nautical) A strong tackle used to hoist an anchor to the cathead of a ship.
  5. (chiefly nautical) Short for cat-o'-nine-tails.
  6. (archaic) A sturdy merchant sailing vessel (now only in "catboat").
  7. (archaic, uncountable) The game of trap ball.
    1. (archaic, countable) The trap in that game.
  8. (archaic) The pointed piece of wood that is struck in the game of tipcat.
  9. (slang, vulgar, African-American Vernacular) A vagina or vulva.
  10. A double tripod (for holding a plate, etc.) with six feet, of which three rest on the ground, in whatever position it is placed.
  12. (historical) A wheeled shelter, used in the Middle Ages as a siege weapon to allow assailants to approach enemy defences.
    Synonyms: tortoise, Welsh cat
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

cat (third-person singular simple present cats, present participle catting, simple past and past participle catted)

  1. (nautical, transitive) To hoist (an anchor) by its ring so that it hangs at the cathead.
    Synonym: cathead
  2. (nautical, transitive) To flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails.
  3. (slang) To vomit.
  4. To go wandering at night.
  5. To gossip in a catty manner.
Translations

See also

Etymology 2

From concatenate, derived from the program's function of concatenating files. Compare concat.

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. (computing) A program and command in Unix that reads one or more files and directs their content to the standard output.

Verb

cat (third-person singular simple present cats, present participle catting, simple past and past participle catted)

  1. (computing, transitive) To apply the cat command to (one or more files).
  2. (computing, slang) To dump large amounts of data on (an unprepared target), usually with no intention of browsing it carefully.

Etymology 3

Abbreviations.

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. (slang) A street name of the drug methcathinone.
  2. Abbreviation of catapult.
  3. Abbreviation of catalytic converter.
  4. Abbreviation of catamaran.
  5. Abbreviation of category.
  6. Abbreviation of catfish.
  7. Abbreviation of caterpillar.
    1. (slang) Any of a variety of earth-moving machines. (from their manufacturer Caterpillar Inc.)
    2. A ground vehicle which uses caterpillar tracks, especially tractors, trucks, minibuses, and snow groomers.
  8. Abbreviation of computed axial tomography. Often used attributively, as in “CAT scan” or “CT scan”.

Adjective

cat (not comparable)

  2. (Ireland, colloquial) Catastrophic; terrible, disastrous.
Derived terms

References

Anagrams

  • act., Act., TAC, ATC, Act, act, A. C. T., A.C.T., CTA, tac, ACT, TCA

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay cat, from Hokkien 漆 (chhat).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /t͡ʃat̚/
  • Rhymes: -t͡ʃat̚
  • Hyphenation: cat

Noun

cat

  1. paint (a substance that is applied as a liquid or paste, and dries into a solid coating that protects or adds color/colour to an object or surface to which it has been applied)

Verb

cat (active mengecat, passive dicat)

  1. (transitive) to paint
    1. to apply paint to
    2. to apply in the manner that paint is applied
    3. to cover (something) with spots of colour, like paint

Derived terms

Further reading

  • “cat” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Alternative forms

  • cut (Cois Fharraige)

Etymology

From Old Irish catt, from Proto-Celtic *kattos, from either Late Latin cattus or Proto-Germanic *kattuz.

Pronunciation

  • (Munster) IPA(key): /kɑt̪ˠ/
  • (Aran) IPA(key): /kɑt̪ˠ/, /kɔt̪ˠ/
  • (Cois Fharraige) IPA(key): /kʊt̪ˠ/ (corresponding to the form cut)
  • (Mayo, Ulster) IPA(key): /kat̪ˠ/

Noun

cat m (genitive singular cait, nominative plural cait)

  1. cat (domestic feline; member of the Felidae)

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

References

Further reading

  • Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “cat”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
  • Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “cat”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 121
  • de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “cat”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
  • “cat”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien 漆 (chhat).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /t͡ʃat/
  • Rhymes: -t͡ʃat, -at

Noun

cat (Jawi spelling چت)

  1. paint (substance)

Affixed terms

  • bercat
  • mengecat (active voice): to paint
    • dicat (passive voice): to be painted
  • catan: painting (an artwork in the form of a painted picture)
  • pengecatan: the action of applying paint to something (e.g. a surface, etc.)
  • pengecat: painter (a person whose job is painting buildings)

Descendants

  • > Indonesian: cat (inherited)
  • → Tausug: sāt

Further reading

  • “cat” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Middle English

Alternative forms

  • catt, catte, cate
  • kat, katte, kaat

Etymology

From Old English catt (“male cat”), catte (“female cat”), this is in turn from Proto-Germanic *kattuz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kat/, /ˈkat(ə)/

Noun

cat (plural cattes)

  1. cat (feline)

Synonyms

  • badde

Descendants

  • English: cat
  • Scots: cat
  • Yola: kaudès, kaudes, kauddès (plural)

References

  • “cat, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norman

Etymology

From Old Northern French cat (variant of Old French chat) from Late Latin cattus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ka/

Noun

cat m (plural cats, feminine catte)

  1. cat
  2. (Jersey) common dab (Limanda limanda)

Derived terms

  • catchiéthe (“cat-flap”)

Old French

Noun

cat oblique singular, m (oblique plural caz or catz, nominative singular caz or catz, nominative plural cat)

  1. (Picardy, Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of chat

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish قات (kat).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kat/
  • Rhymes: -at

Noun

cat n (plural caturi)

  1. (dated) floor (storey)

Declension

Scots

Alternative forms

  • kat
  • ket (Ulster)

Etymology

From Middle Scots cat, from Early Scots catte, from Middle English catte, cat, from Old English catte, catt, from Proto-West Germanic *kattu, from Proto-Germanic *kattuz.

Noun

cat (plural cats)

  1. cat (Felis catus)

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish catt, borrowed from Late Latin cattus. Cognates include Irish cat and Manx kayt.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkʰaʰt̪/, /ˈkʰaht̪/
  • (Colonsay, Islay) IPA(key): /ˈkʰɵht̪/, [kʏ̞ɸd̪̊]
  • Hyphenation: cat

Noun

cat m (genitive singular cait, plural cait)

  1. cat (Felis catus)

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

References

Further reading

  • Colin Mark (2003) “cat”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 118

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.