puss
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Probably from Middle Low German pūs, pūskatte or Dutch poes (“puss, cat”, slang for “vulva”), ultimately from a common Germanic word for cat, perhaps ultimately imitative of a sound made to get its attention (compare Arabic بسة (bissa)).
Akin to West Frisian poes, Low German Puus, Puuskatte, Danish pus, dialectal Swedish kattepus, Norwegian pus.
Found also in several other European, North African and Asian languages; compare Romanian pisică, Persian پیشی (piši), Tamil பூசை (pūcai), Tagalog pusa and Sardinian pisittu.
Noun edit
puss (countable and uncountable, plural pusses)
- (informal, often as a term of address) A cat.
- Our local theatre is showing Puss in Boots.
- Come here, puss! I've got some milk for you.
- (dated, endearing) A girl or young woman, or any child.
- (dated, hunting) A hare.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, “In which is seen a more moving Spectacle, than all the Blood in the Bodies of Thwackum and Blifil and of Twenty other such, is capable of producing”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume II, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book V, page 220:
- He then began to beat about, in the ſame Language, and in the ſame Manner, as if he had been beating for a Hare, and at laſt cried out, 'Soho! Puſs is not far off. Here's her Form, upon my Soul; I believe I may cry ſtole away.'
- 1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “A Day with the Capercailzies”, in H. L. Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 77:
- '[…] It won't kill Puss any better for that.' / "'But, goodness gracious, what can that hare be made of?' I asked.
- (vulgar, slang) The vulva (female genitalia).
- (uncountable, vulgar, slang, metonymically) Sex with a woman.
- 1986, Tim Kazurinsky, Denise DeClue, About Last Night, spoken by Bernie (Jim Belushi):
- So don't know! So, what are you gonna do? Sell your birthright for a little bit of puss?
- (vulgar, slang, chiefly Canada, US) A coward; a wuss; someone who is unable to stand up for themselves.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Etymology 2 edit
Of Celtic origin, from or akin to Irish pus (“mouth, lip”), from Middle Irish bus.
Noun edit
puss (plural pusses)
- (slang) The mouth.
- Shut your puss before I shut it for you.
- 1991, New York Magazine, volume 24, number 21, page 62:
- Hubbert has a rasping voice and a razory laugh, and he's busy and theatrical in the worst way — a noisy performing pro with whirlwind arms and a saturnine puss.
- (slang) The face.
- She gave him a slap in the puss.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Etymology 3 edit
Noun edit
puss (uncountable)
- Alternative spelling of pus
- 2010 Alien Purgatory page 40
- It didn't move as much, and the same teary puss leaked from its eyes.
- 2012 Southern Supposition page 132
- People called him Puss Head because if you crossed him, he went to great lengths to make sure that before you died, puss leaked from your head.
- 2016 When Crickets Cry page 267
- Puss leaked out from beneath white gauze on his back and trickled down his spine.
- 2010 Alien Purgatory page 40
References edit
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
Anagrams edit
Norwegian Bokmål edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From pusse (“to clean, polish, plaster, render”).
Noun edit
puss m (definite singular pussen, indefinite plural pusser, definite plural pussene)
- polish, finery
- (a layer of) plaster (mortar), plastering
- finery
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
puss m or n (definite singular pussen or pusset)
Etymology 3 edit
From Middle Low German putze, pusse, posse. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to hit”), likely in part through Old French boce (“bump”). Compare German Posse, Dutch poets.
Noun edit
puss n (definite singular pusset, indefinite plural puss, definite plural pussa or pussene)
References edit
- “puss” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Etymology 1 edit
From pusse (“to clean, polish, plaster, render”).
Noun edit
puss m (definite singular pussen, indefinite plural pussar, definite plural pussane)
- polish, finery
- (a layer of) plaster (mortar), plastering
- finery
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
puss m or n (definite singular pussen or pusset)
Etymology 3 edit
From Middle Low German putze, pusse, posse. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to hit”), likely in part through Old French boce (“bump”). Compare German Posse, Dutch poets.
Noun edit
puss n (definite singular pusset, indefinite plural puss, definite plural pussa)
References edit
- “puss” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swedish edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Disputed origin. Likely onomatopoeic.
Noun edit
puss c
- Peck; a light or dispassionate kiss performed with closed lips, used for example as a greeting or in non-sensual/non-sexual contexts.
Declension edit
Declension of puss | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | puss | pussen | pussar | pussarna |
Genitive | puss | pussens | pussars | pussarnas |
Related terms edit
See also edit
Etymology 2 edit
Doublet of pussig, pusta, påse, pösa, and pysa. One theory is that it was borrowed from German Pfütze.
Noun edit
puss c
Declension edit
Declension of puss | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | puss | pussen | pussar | pussarna |
Genitive | puss | pussens | pussars | pussarnas |
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- puss in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
- puss in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
Anagrams edit
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Rhymes:English/ʊs
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- English terms derived from Middle Low German
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- English onomatopoeias
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- en:Hunting
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- en:Cats
- en:Genitalia
- en:Hares
- en:People
- en:Sex
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- nb:Pathology
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- nn:Pathology
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