Etymologically
Log in

meow

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 23:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Etymology

It is imitative of the cry of a cat.[2][3][4][5] Similar imitations are found in many languages, such as German miau and the verb miauen, Spanish miau, Turkish miyav and Finnish miau.[2][4] The spellings with ao, such as miaow, are probably partly after French miaou, recorded in 1619 and in 1552 in Middle French myault, and the OED compares Old French miauwer (“to meow”) of 1288.[2][6] It is related to mew, mewl and miaul.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a cat, to make its characteristic cry: 1632, in the spelling meaw, in Robert Sherwood's dictionary printed with Cotgrave's French–English dictionary.[2][6][4] The interjection follows in 1634, as miau, in Thomas Johnson's translation of Paré.[2][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the noun to 1582.[7]

Semantic evolution

Early forms included meaw, meawle and miau;[4][6] the spelling meow appears for the noun and interjection in the 19th century (1842 in Etymonline, 1873 in Barnhart),[4][6] and Barnhart dates the verb in that spelling to 1894.[6] The noun, the cry of a cat, is recorded from 1840, in Marryat.[2] In later use the interjection also implied spite or cattiness in the person addressed, and the noun also means a spiteful remark.[2][7] The informal phrase cat's meow, something excellent, dates from 1926.[7] In 21st-century drug slang meow or meow meow is mephedrone, a play on one of its chemical names.[8]

Timeline

  • 1632 – verb, of a cat, to make its cry, as meaw.[2][6]
  • 1634 – interjection imitating a cat, as miau.[2][6]
  • 1840 – noun, the cry of a cat.[2]
  • 1873 – noun and interjection in the spelling meow.[6]
  • 1926 – the cat's meow, a highly admired person or thing.[7]
  • 2009 – drug slang, mephedrone.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The cry of a cat.[7][2]
  2. A spiteful or catty remark.[7]

Verb

  1. Of a cat, to make its characteristic cry; to mew: The kitten meowed at the closed door.[7][9][2]
  2. To make a catty remark.[7]

Interjection

  1. An imitation of a cat's cry.[9][2]
  2. Used to mock a remark as spiteful or catty.[2]

Word family

  • cat's meow
  • mew
  • mewl
  • miaul

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins