kitty

See also: Kitty

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

A kitty (etymology 1 sense 1.1) or kitten.

From kitt(en) +‎ -y (diminutive suffix)Category:English terms suffixed with -y (diminutive)#KITTY.[1] Compare Dutch katje (“kitty”).

Etymology 1 sense 2 (“vulva and/or vagina”) is probably modelled after the use of pussy to refer to the body part, from the appearance of an unshaven vulva.

Noun

kitty (plural kitties)Category:English lemmas#KITTYCategory:English nouns#KITTYCategory:English countable nouns#KITTYCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#KITTYCategory:Pages with entries#KITTYCategory:Pages with 1 entry#KITTY

  1. (informalCategory:English informal terms#KITTY)
    2. A young cat; a kitten.
      He said there was a beast with fangs in the alley, but it turned out to be a cute little kitty.
      Category:English terms with usage examples#KITTY
      • a. 1708 (date written), [Henry Playford], “Puss in a Corner: A New Song, to a Pretty New Tune Made by a Man of Quality”, in Thomas d’Urfey, compiler, Songs Compleat, Pleasant and Divertive; […], volume II, London: […] W. Pearson, for J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1719, →OCLC, page 82:
        A pretty young Kitty, / She had that could Purr; / 'Tvvas gameſome and handſome, / And had a rare Furr; […]
        Category:English terms with quotations#KITTY
      • 1875 July, “The Kitties’ Grandma”, in The Dayspring, volume IV (New Series; Old Series volume XXVII), number 7, Boston, Mass.: Unitarian Sunday-School Society, →OCLC, page 107, column 1:
        Grandma-cats don't very often care for their grand-kittens. But I know two little Maltese kittens that have the nicest grandma that ever any little kittens had. […] The kitties are named "Bill" and "May." They are good names. […] Of the kitties, you can't tell which is the prettier, however hard you try; and they are good kitties, as they ought to be, with a mamma and a grandma to take care of them.
        Category:English terms with quotations#KITTY
      • 1937, Edith Newlin, “Warm Kitty”, in Laura Pendleton MacCarteney, compiler, Songs for the Nursery School: […]‎, Cincinnati, Oh.: Willis Music, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 June 2020, page 21:
        Warm kitty, soft kitty, / Little ball of fur, / Sleepy kitty, happy kitty, / Purr! Purr! Purr!
        Category:English terms with quotations#KITTY
      • 2007, Pam Johnson-Bennett, “Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?”, in Starting from Scratch: How to Correct Behavior Problems in Your Adult Cat, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, →ISBN, pages 271–272:
        To a child, a cat may look like a moving toy, so it's important to explain how delicate and sensitive a cat's body is from the very start. […] Even how a child picks up and handles the cat can make the kitty begin to fear the very sight of the youngster.
        Category:English terms with quotations#KITTY
    3. (by extension) An adult cat; also (often childishCategory:English childish terms#KITTY), sometimes in the form Kitty: a pet name for a cat of any age.
      (pet name): Synonyms: puss, pussy; see also Thesaurus:cat
  3. (euphemisticCategory:English euphemisms#KITTY, slangCategory:English slang#KITTY) Synonym of pussy (“vulva and/or vagina”).
Alternative forms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Origin uncertainCategory:English terms with unknown etymologies#KITTY;[2] etymology 2 sense 2 (relating to card games) is possibly from kit (“collection of items”) +‎ -y (diminutive suffix)Category:English terms suffixed with -y (diminutive)#KITTY.[3][4]

Noun

kitty (plural kitties)Category:English lemmas#KITTYCategory:English nouns#KITTYCategory:English countable nouns#KITTYCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#KITTYCategory:Pages with entries#KITTYCategory:Pages with 1 entry#KITTY

  1. (bowlsCategory:en:Bowls (game)#KITTY) Synonym of jack (“a small, typically white, ball used as the target ball in bowls”).
  3. (card gamesCategory:en:Card games#KITTY, especially pokerCategory:en:Poker#KITTY, slangCategory:English slang#KITTY)
    1. A pool of money to which card players contribute a portion of their winnings, which is used for paying shared expenses such as the cost of the premises or refreshments; (by extension) any pool of money to which people contribute for shared expenses or other joint purposes; also, any fund of liquid assets set aside for future use.
    2. Synonym of pot (“a quantity of money available to be won in a round or a game”).
      Synonyms: pool, stakes
    3. Synonym of widow (“an additional hand of playing cards dealt face-down in some card games, to be used by the highest bidder”).
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain, possibly a clipping of kid(cote) (“lockup, prison”)Category:English clippings#KITTY (UK, dialectal, obsolete)[2] + -y (diminutive suffix)Category:English terms suffixed with -y (diminutive)#KITTY.

Noun

kitty (plural kitties)Category:English lemmas#KITTYCategory:English nouns#KITTYCategory:English countable nouns#KITTYCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#KITTYCategory:Pages with entries#KITTYCategory:Pages with 1 entry#KITTY

  1. (Northern EnglandCategory:Northern England English#KITTY, slangCategory:English slang#KITTY) A jail, a prison; also, a lockup.
    • 1824, Robert Gilchrist, “The Retrospect”, in A Collection of Original Local Songs. […], 2nd edition, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland: […] [F]or the author, by W. A. Mitchell, […], →OCLC, page 28:
      Besides we had a nice tollbooth, / To pull'd down was a pity, / And in its stead we've got—forsooth— / A vile pernicious kitty. / […] / Like convicts in a condemn'd cell, / They're fed on bread and water; / 'Midst winter's cold and putrid smell, / Thus tort'ring human nature.
      Category:English terms with quotations#KITTY
Translations

Etymology 4

The Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is also called a kitty dialectally in the United Kingdom.

From Kitty (“diminutive of the female given name Katherine”).[5]

Noun

kitty (plural kitties)Category:English lemmas#KITTYCategory:English nouns#KITTYCategory:English countable nouns#KITTYCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#KITTYCategory:Pages with entries#KITTYCategory:Pages with 1 entry#KITTY

  1. (UKCategory:British English#KITTY, dialectalCategory:English dialectal terms#KITTY) In full kitty-wren: synonym of wren (“any bird of the family Troglodytidae; specifically the Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)”).
Translations

Etymology 5

A black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) and its chick. The kittiwake is also dialectally called a kitty.

Clipping of kitt(iwake)Category:English clippings#KITTY + -y (diminutive suffix)Category:English terms suffixed with -y (diminutive)#KITTY.[6]

Noun

kitty (plural kitties)Category:English lemmas#KITTYCategory:English nouns#KITTYCategory:English countable nouns#KITTYCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#KITTYCategory:Pages with entries#KITTYCategory:Pages with 1 entry#KITTY

  1. (UKCategory:British English#KITTY, dialectalCategory:English dialectal terms#KITTY, archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#KITTY) Synonym of kittiwake (“either of two small gulls in the genus Rissa of the family Laridae; specifically (Ireland, UK), the black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)”).
    • 1806, Ro[bert] Forsyth, “Banffshire”, in The Beauties of Scotland: […], volume IV, Edinburgh: […] [John Brown] for Arch[ibald] Constable and Co. and John Brown, […], →OCLC, page 460:
      In the parish of Gaurie three curiosities upon the coast are exhibited to travellers: 1st, A perpendicular rock, of very great extent, full of shelves, and possessed by thousands of birds called kittywakes. […] Some people are fond of eating the young kitties; but the shooting of them is a favourite diversion every year.
      Category:English terms with quotations#KITTY
Translations

References

  1. ↑ “kitty, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “kitty2, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. 1 2 “kitty, n.4”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2025; “kitty1, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ↑ “kitty2, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  4. ↑ “kitty, n.”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.
  5. ↑ “kitty, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024.
  6. ↑ “kitty, n.3”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

Further reading

Category:en:Cats#KITTYCategory:en:Gulls#KITTYCategory:en:Prison#KITTYCategory:en:Wrens#KITTY
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