kitty English · revision 10690
17 Oct 2026, 05:26 by bogdan “en10k b0381: habitat … intake” current version
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+ Kitty, a kitten, is a pet form of kitten; kitty, a pool of money, is probably from kit, a set of supplies.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: UK /ˈkɪt.i/, US /ˈkɪt̬.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ {{homograph|1|cat}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1719|origins=en kitten}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is formed from [[kitten]] with the diminutive suffix [[-y]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) perhaps influenced by kitty, a girl or young woman (1500–20, in Dunbar), a pet form of the name Catherine.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A kitten, used especially as a pet name: 1719.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Kitten itself goes back to Old French chitoun, a pet form of chat, cat.^(Cresswell 2021) Kitty is also a local name for the wren (1825), as in kitty-wren.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1500–20 – kitty, a girl.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1719 – a kitten.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1825 – a wren (dialect).^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A pet name for a [[cat]] or [[kitten]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ {{homograph|2|fund}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=derivation|attested=1884}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is probably formed from [[kit]] in the 19th-century sense of a container or a collection of necessary supplies (1833) and [[-y]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) though Etymonline suggests it may come instead from northern English slang kitty, a prison or lock-up (1825).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Money pooled by players in a card game to pay expenses: 1884 in American English in Etymonline, 1887 in Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The Standard Hoyle (1887) describes the kitty, or widow, as a percentage of chips taken during a poker game to pay for cards, light and attendance.^(Etymonline) The general sense, any shared pool or fund of money, appeared in American English in 1903, in Josiah Flynt.^(Barnhart 1988) In bowls, the kitty is the jack.^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1884 – a pool in card games.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1887 – in The Standard Hoyle.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1903 – any shared fund.^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A shared [[fund]] of money to which several people contribute.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # The pool of stakes in certain card games, such as [[poker]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # ''(bowls)'' The jack.^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[kit]]
+ * [[kitten]]
+ * [[kittenish]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}