kitten
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɪtn̩/
rhymes: -ɪt(ə)n
Forms: form: kittens
Etymology: From Middle English kitoun, kytton, kyton, keton (“kitten”), of obscure origin. Seemingly from, and usually explained as being from, unattested Anglo-Norman *kitoun, *ketun (compare Old French chitoun, cheton, chaton (“kitten”), diminutive of cat, chat (“cat”)); whence Modern French chaton (“kitten”). Similar words of Germanic origin may have reinforced this word; compare English kitling (“kit, kitten”), Low German Kitten (“kitten”), Icelandic kettlingur (“kitten”), Middle English chitte ("whelp, pup", see chit). The idea that kitoun, rather than being of Anglo-Norman origin, was in fact a purely Germanic derivation from one of these words is etymologically problematic, but cannot be definitively ruled out.
Senses: examples: text: It was supposed to have happened thus: the cat had young kittens, and frequently carried them mice, and other animals its prey, and among the rest a young rat: the kittens, not being hungry, played with it, and when the cat came to give suck to the kittens, the rat likewise sucked her.
ref: 1752 January, The London Magazine, and Monthly Chronologer, page 243&244:
text: To the sounds, however, I paid no attention at first as I was much interested in the subject upon which I was writing; but at length my som Richard burst into my study, exclaiming that the kitten had climbed up to the top of a young ash tree, and could not get down again.
ref: 1844, The Kitten, the Religious Tract Society, page 1 & 2:
text: Jailing her on Wednesday, magistrate Liz Clyne told Robins: "You have shown little remorse either for the death of the kitten or the trauma to your former friend Sarah Knutton." She was also banned from keeping animals for 10 years.
ref: 2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in Guardian:
glosses: A young cat, especially before sexual maturity (reached at about seven months).
examples: text: The first move at beaver raising in North Dakota had its starting in the fall of 1874, when a kitten beaver was taken out of Mandan Lake by the writer and given to a little Indian girl who then lived with her guardians at Pretty Point near the present village of Sanger, Oliver county.
ref: 1906, Joseph Henry Taylor, Beavers, Their Ways, and Other Sketches, page 49:
text: 2009, Kathryn Walker, See How Rabbits Grow, publ. by PowerKiDS press (The Rosen Publishing Group Inc.), page 10.
Rabbit babies are called kittens or kits. The mother prepares a cosy nest for her kittens.
glosses: A young rabbit, rat, hedgehog, squirrel, fox, beaver, badger, etc.
examples: text: Two of these formed cocoons in a manner I have not seen before. They were supplied when full-grown with plenty of rotten willow wood, which I have always found a most suitable material for insects using bark or old wood in forming cocoons such as the kittens, Apatele alni, etc., and most made the usual cycle of cocoons on it.
ref: 1959, Odonata reprints: J. G. Needham collection, volume 3, page 657:
glosses: A moth of the genus Furcula.
examples: text: Speak only when spoken to, kitten.
ref: 1995, Duckman, "America the Beautiful" (season 2, episode 5)
glosses: A term of endearment, especially for a woman.
glosses: A term of endearment, especially for a woman.
A girlfriend.
Synonyms: sense: young cat
word: catling
sense: young cat
word: kit
sense: young cat
word: kitling
sense: young cat
word: kitty
sense: young cat
word: kitty cat
Derived terms: bobkitten
cat and kitten sneaking
Discord kitten
dust kitten
have kittens
kit
kittenball
kittendom
kitten factory
kitten farm
kitten heel
kittenhood
kittenish
kittenless
kittenlike
kitten mill
kittenness
kittenship
kitteny
kitty
Pallas' kitten
playful as a kitten
safe as a kitten
safe as a kitten in a basket
safe as a kitten in a box
sallow kitten
Schrodinger kitten
Schrödinger kitten
Schrödinger's kitten
Schrodinger's kitten
Schroedinger kitten
Schroedinger's kitten
sex kitten
smitten kitten
squitten
werekitten