cat: [OE] The word cat seems to have appeared on the European scene, in the form of Latin catta or cattus, around 1000 AD (the previous Latin word was fēlēs, source of English feline). No one is completely sure where it came from (although given the domestic cat’s origins in Egypt, it is likely to have been an Egyptian word), but it soon spread north and west through Europe. The Latin word reached English via Germanic *kattuz, later backed up by Anglo-Norman cat, a variant of Old French chat.
cat (n.)
Old English catt (c. 700), from West Germanic (c. 400-450), from Proto-Germanic *kattuz (cognates: Old Frisian katte, Old Norse k?ttr, Dutch kat, Old High German kazza, German Katze), from Late Latin cattus.
The near-universal European word now, it appeared in Europe as Latin catta (Martial, c. 75 C.E.), Byzantine Greek katta (c. 350) and was in general use on the continent by c. 700, replacing Latin feles. Probably ultimately Afro-Asiatic (compare Nubian kadis, Berber kadiska, both meaning "cat"). Arabic qitt "tomcat" may be from the same source. Cats were domestic in Egypt from c. 2000 B.C.E., but not a familiar household animal to classical Greeks and Romans. The nine lives have been proverbial since at least 1560s.
The Late Latin word also is the source of Old Irish and Gaelic cat, Welsh kath, Breton kaz, Italian gatto, Spanish gato, French chat (12c.). Independent, but ultimately from the same source are words in the Slavic group: Old Church Slavonic kotuka, kotel'a, Bulgarian kotka, Russian ko?ka, Polish kot, along with Lithuanian kate and non-Indo-European Finnish katti, which is from Lithuanian.
Extended to lions, tigers, etc. c. 1600. As a term of contempt for a woman, from early 13c. Slang sense of "prostitute" is from at least c. 1400. Slang sense of "fellow, guy," is from 1920, originally in U.S. Black English; narrower sense of "jazz enthusiast" is recorded from 1931.
Cat's paw (1769, but cat's foot in the same sense, 1590s) refers to old folk tale in which the monkey tricks the cat into pawing chestnuts from a fire; the monkey gets the nuts, the cat gets a burnt paw. Cat bath "hurried or partial cleaning" is from 1953. Cat burglar is from 1907, so called for stealth. Cat-witted "small-minded, obstinate, and spiteful" (1670s) deserved to survive. For Cat's meow, cat's pajamas, see bee's knees.
CAT
1975, medical acronym for computerized axial tomography or something like it. Related: CAT scan.
雙語例句
1. In " the black cat " the adjective " black " modifies the noun " cat " .
在the black cat這一詞組中,形容詞 black 修飾名詞cat.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
2. About 30 major medical centers in the United States have xenon CAT scan technology.
美國大約有30家主要醫療中心有氙氣CAT掃描儀技術.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
3. My cat Gustaf was the only thing I had—the only company.
我的貓古斯塔夫是我所有的一切——我唯一的伴侶。
來自柯林斯例句
4. It's a cat-and-mouse game to him, and I'm the mouse.
在他看來，這是個貓捉老鼠的把戲，而我就是老鼠。
來自柯林斯例句
5. Her cat came up and rubbed itself against their legs.