猫

See also 貓

Translingual

Han character

猫 (radical 94 犬+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 大竹廿田 (KHTW))

1. cat

References

• KangXi: page 714, character 27
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20535
• Dae Jaweon: page 1127, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1352, character 1
• Unihan data for U+732B

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Cantonese

Hanzi

猫 (traditional 貓, jyutping maau1, Yale maau1)

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Japanese

Kanji

猫 (common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Go'on: みょう (myō), (historical) めう (meu)
• Kan'on: びょう (byō), (historical) べう (beu)
• Kun: ねこ (neko)

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. /*ni₁a-ko₁ma/ > /ne₁ko₁ma/ > /neko/

Shortened from nekoma: see below.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [ne̞.ꜜko̞]

Noun

猫 (hiragana ねこ, katakana ネコ, romaji neko)

1. a cat

   • 931-938: Wamyō Ruijushō (book 7 page 56)

     猫: 野王案、猫、音苗、禰古麻、下總本有和名二字興河海抄引此合、本草和名同訓、或省云禰古、新撰字鏡、狸、禰古、按狸一名猫、見本草和名、似虎而小、熊捕鼠為糧

Derived terms

• 子猫, 仔猫 (こねこ, koneko): a kitten
• シュレーディンガーの猫 (シュレーディンガーのねこ, Shurēdingā no neko): Schrödinger's cat
• 猫かぶり
• 猫かわいがり
• とらねこ
• どらねこ
• やまねこ
• 唐猫
• 化け猫
• 招き猫

Idioms

• 猫も杓子も
• 猫の手も借りたい
• 猫舌
• 猫に小判
• 猫の額
• 借りてきた猫

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese. /*ni₁a-ko₁ma/ > /ne₁ko₁ma/

Originally a compound of にゃ (nya, “onomatopoeia for the sound a cat makes (compare English mew)”) +‎ こま (koma, “four-legged animal”).

Obsolete; replaced by shorter form neko in modern Japanese.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [ne̞.ko̞.mä]

Noun

猫 (hiragana ねこま, romaji nekoma)

1. (obsolete) a cat

   • 931-938: Wamyō Ruijushō (book 7 page 56)

     猫: 野王案、猫、音苗、禰古麻、下總本有和名二字興河海抄引此合、本草和名同訓、或省云禰古、新撰字鏡、狸、禰古、按狸一名猫、見本草和名、似虎而小、熊捕鼠為糧

References

• 1968 May 23 [931-938], Shitagō Minamoto; Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu, Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, ISBN 4-653-00507-9:

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Korean

Hanja

猫 (hangeul 묘, revised myo, McCune-Reischauer myo, Yale myo)

1. (고양이 묘, goyang-i): cat

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Mandarin

simpl.		猫
trad.		貓

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Hanzi

猫 (traditional 貓, pinyin māo (mao1), Wade-Giles mao¹)

Noun

猫 (simplified, Pinyin māo, measure word 只, traditional 貓)

1. cat

Derived terms

• māotóuyīng 猫头鹰
• xióngmāo 熊猫
• Xuēdìng’è de māo 薛定谔的猫
• yèmāozi 夜猫子

See also

• 喵 (pinyin: miāo) meow, the onomatopoeic cry of a cat