kitty

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɪti/ (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈkɪti/, [ˈkʰɪɾi] (New Zealand) IPA(key): [ˈkʰɘ.ɾiː] Homophones: kiddie, kiddy (US, Canada, New Zealand) Rhymes: -ɪti Hyphenation: kit‧ty === Etymology 1 === From kitt(en) +‎ -y (diminutive suffix). Compare Dutch katje (“kitty”). 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) (informal) A young cat; a kitten. (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 (euphemistic, slang) Synonym of pussy (“vulva and/or vagina”). ===== Alternative forms ===== kittie kbity, kibty, kity (deliberate misspellings) ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== kit (“kitten; young animal”) kitten kittenish kittenlike ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === Origin uncertain; sense 2 (relating to card games) is possibly from kit (“collection of items”) +‎ -y (diminutive suffix). ==== Noun ==== kitty (plural kitties) (bowls) Synonym of jack (“a small, typically white, ball used as the target ball in bowls”). (card games, especially poker, slang) 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. Synonym of pot (“a quantity of money available to be won in a round or a game”). Synonyms: pool, stakes 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 ===== kitty party (originally and chiefly South Asia, slang) ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 3 === Origin uncertain, possibly a clipping of kid(cote) (“lockup, prison”) (UK, dialectal, obsolete) + -y (diminutive suffix). ==== Noun ==== kitty (plural kitties) (Northern England, slang) A jail, a prison; also, a lockup. ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 4 === From Kitty (“diminutive of the female given name Katherine”). ==== Noun ==== kitty (plural kitties) (UK, dialectal) In full kitty-wren: synonym of wren (“any bird of the family Troglodytidae; specifically the Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)”). ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 5 === Clipping of kitt(iwake) + -y (diminutive suffix). ==== Noun ==== kitty (plural kitties) (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)”). ===== Translations ===== === References === === Further reading === cat on Wikipedia.Wikipedia kitty (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia