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kitty

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Kitty

English

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WOTD – 29 October 2025

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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A kitty (etymology 1 sense 1.1) or kitten.

From kitt(en) +‎ -y (diminutive suffix).[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

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kitty (plural kitties)

  1. (informal)
    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.
      • 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; […]
      • 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.
      • 1937, Edith Newlin, “Warm Kitty”, in Laura Pendleton MacCarteney, compiler, Songs for the Nursery School: […]‎[1], 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!
      • 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.
    3. (by extension) An adult cat; also (often childish), sometimes in the form Kitty: a pet name for a cat of any age.
      (pet name): Synonyms: puss, pussy; see also Thesaurus:cat
      Here, kitty kitty! Nice kitty!
  3. (euphemistic, slang) Synonym of pussy (“vulva and/or vagina”).
    • 2010 June, Anya Nicole, “A Fraud, a Phony, a Fake”, in Judgment Day, Deer Park, N.Y.: Urban Books, →ISBN, page 166:
      Looking at Lynn's naked body one last time, Mia decided to try something else. She waited for Lynn to bend down to grab her underwear and then came up behind her and began licking her kitty with long, wet strokes.
    • 2017, CoCo Amoure [pseudonym], Falling For A Young Boss (Promise Me Forever; 2)‎[2], [Atlanta, Ga.]: Sullivan Group Publishing, →ISBN:
      The way Tariq was licking her kitty had her clutching the sheets.
    • 2019 November 18, Shanté Funches, “Mya and Evan”, in Web of Desire, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN:
      Evan's tongue was magic. She'd heard most men didn't have the skills to make a girl lose her mind by licking her kitty. But Evan …
Alternative forms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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Origin uncertain;[2] etymology 2 sense 2 (relating to card games) is possibly from kit (“collection of items”) +‎ -y (diminutive suffix).[3][4]

Noun

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kitty (plural kitties)

  1. (bowls) Synonym of jack (“a small, typically white, ball used as the target ball in bowls”).
  3. (card games, especially poker, slang)
    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.
      • 1909 April, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Fourth in Salvador”, in Roads of Destiny, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, pages 213–214:
        Your business is busted up, your thousand dollars is gone into the kitty of this corrupt country on that last bluff you made, […]
      • 1995 September 8 (date interviewed), Peter Vacher, quoting Betty Hall Jones, “Betty Hall Jones: Piano, Organ, and Vocals”, in Swingin’ on Central Avenue: African American Jazz in Los Angeles, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, published 2015, →ISBN, page 99:
        They told me you always had to come back to the band with your hand open so they could see what tip you got and you put that in the kitty.
    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
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Translations
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Etymology 3

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Origin uncertain, possibly a clipping of kid(cote) (“lockup, prison”) (UK, dialectal, obsolete)[2] + -y (diminutive suffix).

Noun

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kitty (plural kitties)

  1. (Northern England, slang) 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.
Translations
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Etymology 4

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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

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kitty (plural kitties)

  1. (UK, dialectal) In full kitty-wren: synonym of wren (“any bird of the family Troglodytidae; specifically the Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)”).
Translations
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Etymology 5

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

Clipping of kitt(iwake) + -y (diminutive suffix).[6]

Noun

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kitty (plural kitties)

  1. (UK, dialectal, archaic) 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.
Translations
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References

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  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. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “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.
  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

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