kit-cat
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
So called because the size was adopted by Sir Godfrey Kneller for the portraits he painted of the members of London's 18th-century Kit-Cat Club, named after innkeeper Christopher Catt.
Noun edit
- (historical, art) A short portrait, measuring 28 or 29 by 36 inches, less than half-length, but including the hands.
Further reading edit
- “kit-cat”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.