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pussy

Etymology and origin of the English word pussy

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English has two main words spelled pussy: the pet name for a cat, from puss, and a vulgar slang word for the female genitals, of disputed origin.[1][2]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpʊsi/[3]

pussy1 cat

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1583

Etymology

The cat is a diminutive of puss with the suffix -y.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a term of endearment for a girl or woman, also used of effeminate men: 1583, in Philip Stubbes's Anatomie of Abuses;[4][1] a cat, by the 1690s in Etymonline, about 1565 in MWU.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

A hare is pussy from 1715,[4][1] and childish speech applied it to anything soft and furry, such as a catkin, from 1858.[4] In RAF slang of the Second World War to play pussy was to hide in cloud.[1] Pussy-willow and pussyfoot follow the cat sense.[5][6]

Timeline

  • 1583 – a term of endearment.[4]
  • c. 1565 – a cat (MWU).[2]
  • 1715 – a hare.[4]
  • 1858 – something soft and furry.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (informal) A cat; a pussycat.
  2. A soft furry catkin, as of the pussy willow.

Word family

  • pussycat
  • pussyfoot
  • pussy willow

pussy2 female genitals (vulgar)

Confidence
Disputed
First attested
1699

Etymology

The vulgar sense is perhaps from earlier puss, vulva, of Low German or Scandinavian origin: compare Old Norse púss (“pocket, pouch”) and Low German puse, vulva;[1][2] or else from the cat word, from the idea of something soft and furry, as French chatte has both meanings.[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

1699, in D'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy, in Green's Dictionary of Slang;[7] Etymonline has it by 1879 and notes that earlier uses are hard to separate from the cat word.[1]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline argues that the absence of the vaginal sense from Grose and other early slang dictionaries, and the use of pussy as an innocent endearment in books such as Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), suggest that it was not widely known before the late 19th century.[1] By extension it means women as sexual objects, or sex.[8][7] Pussy-whipped, henpecked, is from 1956.[1] As an adjective, weak or unmanly, it is American slang,[8] and a weak or timid man is a pussy.[6][5]

Timeline

  • 1699 – in D'Urfey.[7]
  • 1879 – clearly attested.[1]
  • 1956 – pussy-whipped.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (vulgar slang) The female genitals.
  2. (vulgar slang, offensive) A weak or cowardly man.
  • puss
  • pus

Usage notes

A third, rare word pussy, pronounced /ˈpʌsi/, means full of pus (1888 in MWU).[2][9] American slang also had pussy, fat or corpulent (1844).[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  8. ^ a b Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Pussy.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/pussy. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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