Words for Cat in Many Languages
As compiled from the Usenet news group rec.pets.cats May - July 1995, with occasional subsequent additions.
[Thanks to Paolo, Raewyn, Okan Cetin, "DUKPIXtoo", Laura Ann Mihstol, Krisztian Berta, TimP, Dierdre W., and
Anne Marit Jerpstad for the new words, to Sezer Yalcin and Andrew Bajorinas for the corrections, and a huge thank you to
Andras Rajki, who shared his own list and nearly doubled this one in July 2005, and then sent even more in 2008!]
Amharic (Ethiopian): domadh (pronounced "domath", demmu)
Afrikaans: kat; kitten = katjie
Alabama: kai
Albanian: mace
Algonquin (Cherokee): sinta
Am. Sign Language: "take thumb and forefinger, put them alongside face and open and close them while stroking (your whiskers) outward..."
Arabic: Ghat ("gh" is guttural), Qit, Quitt, Besseh or biss
Aragonese: maxin
Aramaic: shunra
Armenian: gatz, katu
Assyrian: qatoo
Asturian: gatu
Aymara: phisi
Azerbaijani: pisik
Balinese: meong
Bambara: jakuma
Bashkir: besey
Basque: Katu
Batak: huting
Belorussian: koska
Bemba: cona
Bengali (India): biral
Bergamasco: gat
Breton: kaz
British English: moggy
Bulgarian: kotka
Burmese: caon
Cajun "French": kitty = Minou
Calabrese: gat
Cantonese: Maow
Catalan: gat
Catanese: 'iatta
Chechen: tsitska
Cheyenne: póéso
Cornish: kath
Cree: Minoos, kitten = Minoosis
Czech: Kocka; male = kocour; female = kocka
Dakota: igmu
Danish: Kat; kitten = Kattekilling; also use Mise
Dari (Iran): pishak
Dutch: kat; female = poes ("poos" like "goose"); male = kater; male kitten = katje ("kat-ya"); kittens = katjes; female kitten = poesje
Egyptian (ancient): Mou ("ou" as in "ouch")
Egyptian: miw (comma instead of dot over the "i"), mau, or kut
Eskimo: Pussi
Esperanto: kato; kitten = katido; tomcat = virkato; clowder = kataro
Estonian: kass
Evenki: koshka
Faeroese: kattur
Fijian: vusi
Filipino: pusa
Finnish: kissa; baby cat = kissanpentu; male = kolli; female = narttu; affectionate: kisu, misu, mirri (mirri has an additional, "naughty" meaning)
Fulaani (Nigeria): (phonetic) = holoondoo ("who loon do")
French: cat = Le Chat (silent "t") or Matou; kitty = Minou ("mee-noo"); puss = Minet(te); kitten = chaton
Frisian: kat
Furlan (Friuli): gjat
Gallego: gato
Gamilaraay (Australia): burrgan
Georgian: kata
German: female = die Katze (KAT-tse); male = der Kater; cats = die Katzen; kitten = das Käetzchen ("cats-chen"); kitty (and other nicknames) = Mietze ("MEET-sah"), Puschi, Pussi
Gilyak: kisk
Greek: Ga'ta; kitten = gataki
Greek (Old): ailouros
Guarani (Paraguay): mbaracaya ("mmmm bah rah kah JAW")
Gypsy (Lovar dialect): muca
Halha (Mongolia): muur
Hawaiian: Popoki; kitten (literally "cat child") = popokikeiki
Hausa: mussa
Hebrew: Chatool ("ch" is representation of a single letter in Hebrew, guttural sound), hatul; male = Chatul; female = Chatula; kitten male = Chataltul; kitten female = Chatatula
Hindi (India): billi ("billie")
Hmong: miv
Hungarian: Macska ("much-ka"); kitten (literally "little cat") = kismacska, pussycat = cica ("tsi-tsa")
Huttese: misi
Icelandic: köttur
Igbo: bosi
Ilocano:(Phillipine dialect): pusa
Indonesian/Malay: Kutjing or kucing
Inuktikut: puusi
Irish Gaelic: cat
Italian: male = gatto; female = gatta; cats = gatti; kitten male = gattino; kitten female = gattina; nice male cat = Micio; nice female cat = Micia; nice kitten (male) = Micetto; nice kitten
(female) = Micetta
Japanese: Neko ("Neh-ko"); kitten = koneko; affectionate form = neko-chan
Javanese: kucing
Judeo Spanish: gato
Kabyle: muc
Kalmyk (Mongolia): mis
Kannada: bekku
Karelian: kazi
Kazakh: mysyk
Kinkongo (Zaire): Nyau
Khmer: chima (long "a") or chmah
Kikuyu: mbaka
Korean: koyangi ("koh-yang-ee")
Kurdish (Iran): kitik
Lakhota-Sioux: igmu
Lampung: kucing
Laotian: Mell (pronounced "Meyel" or "something close to 'Meow'") or mau
Lapponian: bussa
Latin: felis, feles, felix or cattus
Latvian: kachit or kakis
Leonese: muxu
Lingala: pusi
Lithuanian: Cat-ti-a or kate; female = Katite
Loglan: katma
Macedonian: female = machka; male = machor
Madurese: koceng
Malagasy: saka
Malay: kuching or kucing; "sweet little pussy cat" = kuchinta
Malayalam: pucca
Maltese: male = Qattus, female = Quattusa
Mandarin: (phonetically) mao (rhymes with "cow")
Manx (Isle of Man): kayt; cats = kiyt; tomcat = kayt firryn; kitten = pishin
Maori (New Zealand): ngero (The "ng" is said like in sing ... you *almost* pronounce the g)
Mapundungun: narki
Masai (Kenya): em-paka
Mayan: miz (pronounced "meece")
Menomini: kasakeh
Micmac: kajuwewj
Mundari: pusi
Nahuatl: mizton
Navajo: Moosi or mosi
Nepali: biraalo
Napolitano: gatta
Norwegian: Katt (also: Kattepus, Pusekatt); kitten = Kattunge; kitty = Pus
Ojibwe: gaashak
Oromo (Ethiopia): adurree
Ossetic: gaedy
Pahlavi (Iran): gurbag
Palauan: Katuu
Pashto (Afghanistan): pishi
Persian/Farsi (Iran): gorbeh or gorbe(stress on second syllable); kitten = bache gorbeh; kitty = peesh-ee (peesh rhymes with lease, -ee like a short i), (slang) "roof lion" = Bomshear
Pig Latin: at-cay, Itty-Kay, Om-Tay, Ussy-Pay, Itten-Kay, Eline-Fay... :-)
Pinyin: mao ("ao" like "now", high pitch, even tone)
Pitjantjantjara (Australia): ngaya
Polish: Kot ("o" pronounced like "ou" in "court"); affectionate = kotek
Portugese: gato; female = gata; kitty = gatito or gatinho
Potawatomi: kazho, mayos; cats = mayosuk
Pulaar: ullundu
Punjabi (India): billi ("billie")
Quechua: michi or misi; little cat = michicha
Quechua (Ancash): mishi
Rapanui (Easter Island): kuri
Romanian: pisica ("peeseecka"); cats = pisici; male = motan
Romany: muca
Romansch: giat ("DJE-ah-t")
Rundi (Kirundi): inyabu
Russian: cat= kot; domesticated (diminuitive form) = koshka; kitten = kotyonok ("koht-yon-ok"); affectionate form = koshenka; kitty = kiska
Rwanda (Kinyarwanda): injangwe
Samoan: pusi
Sardinian (Campidanese): gatu
Sardinian (Logudorese): gattu
Sanskrit (India): marjara
Scots Gaelic: cat; kitten = piseag; feline = mar chat
Serbo-Croatian: Macka ("Much-ka")
Shona: katsi
Sicilian: gattu
Sinhala: balala
Slovak: Macka ("much-ka")
Slovenian: Macka ("much-ka")
Somali: bisad
Sorbian: kocka
Sotho: katse
Spanish: gato; minino ("me ne no")
Sundanese: ucing
Swahili: Paka
Swedish: katt; kitten (literally "cat child") = kattunge; kitty = kisse
Swiss Deutsche slang: kitty, kitty, kitty = Boozzhi, boozzhi, boozzhi
Tagalog (Phillipine dialect): pusa ("poo-sah")
Tahitian: piifare
Tamil: punai
Tarahumara (Mexico): miisi
Tatar: pesi
Tajik (Iran): gurba
Tamil (Indian language also spoken in Sri Lanka & Singapore): (phonetically) poo-NAI
Telugu: pilli
Thai: Maa-oh
Tigrinya: dimu
Tohono O'odham (native Am. tribe in SW Arizona): Mihstol (roughly pronounced mee-stol or mee-stow with the "l" barely sounded)
Tongan: pusi
Triestino: gato
Tsalagi (Cherokee): We'sa
Tswana: katse
Turkish: Kedi; cats = Kediler
Turkmen: pishik
Tuvan: moortai
Twi: agyinamoa
Ukrainian: kotuk ("kohtihk") or kit; affectionate = kitcha; "one who purrs" = Morrchik
Urdu (Pakistan): billi ("billie")
Uzbek: mushuk
Vietnamese: Con mêo
Vogulic: kati
Welsh: cath; kitten = cath fach; feline = fel cath, cathaidd
Wolof: muus
Xhosa: kati
Yiddish: ketzl, katz; kitten = ketzleh
Yoruba: ologbo
Yucatec: miis
Zapotec (Mexico) : mistu
Zulu: kati
Know any more?
Additions and corrections gladly accepted by:
M Patterson
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