cater-corner

== English == === Alternative forms === catacorner, catercorner, catty-corner, kitty-corner === Etymology === Presumably a clipped form of cater-cornered, from cater +‎ cornered, q.v., although catty-cornered is attested earlier (1838). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkatəˌkɔːnə/, /ˈkeɪtəˌkɔːnə/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkætəˌkɔɹnɚ/ === Adjective === cater-corner (not comparable) (US, Canada) At a diagonal to another; of four corners, those diagonal to another. (UK dialect, obsolete) Uneven, not square, as mislaid stones or people with a limping gait. === Adverb === cater-corner (not comparable) (US, Canada) Diagonally across from. ==== Translations ==== === Derived terms === Various corruptions exist, replacing unfamiliar cater with words related to cat, catty, kitty, caddy, etc. An almost identical process occurred in Germanic, where many place names have Kat or similar components, where it is not plausible that it is due to relationships with cats (German Katze), and it is instead ascribed to things being crooked, in a corner, or otherwise curved. catty-corner, cattycorner, caddy-corner, katty-corner catty-cornered, cattycornered, caddy-cornered, katty-cornered kitty-corner, kittycorner kitty-cornered, kittycornered === See also === cattywampus, catawampus, kittywampus === References === “cater-cornered, adv. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972. “Kitty-corner” in Anatoly Liberman's Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008, →ISBN, pp. 133–135.