different between cat vs cast

English

Pronunciation

• (US, UK) enPR: k?t, IPA^(key): /kæt/, [k?æt], [k?æt?]
• (UK) IPA^(key): /kat/
• Rhymes: -æt
• Homophones: Kat, khat, qat

Etymology 1

From Middle English cat, catte, from Old English catt (“male cat”), catte (“female cat”), from Proto-Germanic *kattuz.

Alternative forms

• catte (obsolete)

Noun

cat (plural cats)

1. An animal of the family Felidae:

   Synonym: felid

   1. A domesticated species (Felis catus) or subspecies (Felis silvestris catus) of feline animal, commonly kept as a house pet. [from 8^thc.]

      • At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.

      Synonyms: puss, pussy, malkin, kitty, pussy-cat, grimalkin; see also Thesaurus:cat

   2. Any similar animal of the family Felidae, which includes lions, tigers, bobcats, etc.
      • 1985 January, George Laycock, "Our American Lion", in Boy Scouts of America, Boys' Life, 28.

        If you should someday round a corner on the hiking trail and come face to face with a mountain lion, you would probably never forget the mighty cat.
2. A person:
   1. (offensive) A spiteful or angry woman. [from early 13^thc.]
      • 1835 September, anonymous, "The Pigs", in The New-England Magazine, Vol. 9, 156.

        But, ere one rapid moon its tale has told, / He finds his prize — a cat — a slut — a scold.

      Synonym: bitch

   2. An enthusiast or player of jazz.
   3. (slang) A person (usually male).
      • 1973 December, "Books Noted", discussing A Dialogue (by James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni), in Black World, Johnson Publishing Company, 77.

        BALDWIN: That's what we were talking about before. And by the way, you did not have to tell me that you think your father is a groovy cat; I knew that.

      Synonyms: bloke, chap, cove, dude, fellow, fella, guy

   4. (slang) A prostitute. [from at least early 15^thc.]
3. (nautical) A strong tackle used to hoist an anchor to the cathead of a ship.
4. (chiefly nautical) Short form of cat-o'-nine-tails.
5. (archaic) A sturdy merchant sailing vessel (now only in "catboat").
6. (archaic, uncountable) The game of "trap and ball" (also called "cat and dog").
   1. The trap of the game of "trap and ball".
7. (archaic) The pointed piece of wood that is struck in the game of tipcat.
8. (slang, vulgar, African-American Vernacular) A vagina, a vulva; the female external genitalia.
9. A double tripod (for holding a plate, etc.) with six feet, of which three rest on the ground, in whatever position it is placed.
10. (historical) A wheeled shelter, used in the Middle Ages as a siege weapon to allow assailants to approach enemy defences.

    Synonyms: tortoise, Welsh cat

Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:cat, Thesaurus:man.

• (any member of the suborder (sometimes superfamily) Feliformia or Feloidea): feliform ("cat-like" carnivoran), feloid (compare Caniformia, Canoidea)
• (any member of the subfamily Felinae, genera Puma, Acinonyx, Lynx, Leopardus, and Felis)): feline cat, a feline
• (any member of the subfamily Pantherinae, genera Panthera, Uncia and Neofelis): pantherine cat, a pantherine
• (technically, all members of the genus Panthera): panther (i.e. tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard), (narrow sense) panther (i.e. black panther)
• (any member of the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae, genera Smilodon, Homotherium, Miomachairodus, etc.): Smilodontini, Machairodontini (Homotherini), Metailurini, "saber-toothed cat" (saber-tooth)

Hyponyms

• (domestic species): housecat, malkin, kitten, mouser, tomcat

Derived terms

Translations

See cat/translations § Noun.

Verb

cat (third-person singular simple present cats, present participle catting, simple past and past participle catted)

1. (nautical, transitive) To hoist (the anchor) by its ring so that it hangs at the cathead.
   • 1922, Francis Lynde, Pirates' Hope, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, page 226:

     The anchors were catted at the bows of the yacht …

2. (nautical, transitive) To flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails.
3. (slang) To vomit.
4. To go wandering at night.
5. To gossip in a catty manner.

Translations

See also

Etymology 2

Noun

cat (plural cats)

1. Abbreviation of catamaran.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of catenate.

Noun

cat (plural cats)

1. (computing) A program and command in Unix that reads one or more files and directs their content to the standard output.

Verb

cat (third-person singular simple present cats, present participle catting, simple past and past participle catted)

1. (computing, transitive) To apply the cat command to (one or more files).
2. (computing, slang) To dump large amounts of data on (an unprepared target) usually with no intention of browsing it carefully.

Etymology 4

Possibly a shortened form of catastrophic.

Adjective

cat (not comparable)

1. (Ireland, informal) Terrible, disastrous.

Usage notes

This usage is common in speech but rarely appears in writing.

Etymology 5

Shortened from methcathinone.

Noun

cat (uncountable)

1. (slang) A street name of the drug methcathinone.

Etymology 6

Shortened from catapult.

Noun

cat (plural cats)

1. (military, naval) A catapult.

Etymology 7

Noun

cat (plural cats)

1. Abbreviation of category.

Etymology 8

Noun

cat (plural cats)

1. Abbreviation of catfish.
   • 1916, M. Shults, "Fishing for Yellow Cat in the Brazos", in Field and Stream, vol. 21, 478.

     Fishing for cat is probably, up to a certain stage, the least exciting of all similar sports.

Etymology 9

Abbreviation of caterpillar.

Noun

cat (plural cats)

1. (slang) Any of a variety of earth-moving machines. (from their manufacturer Caterpillar Inc.)
2. A caterpillar drive vehicle (a ground vehicle which uses caterpillar tracks), especially tractors, trucks, minibuses, and snow groomers.

References

Anagrams

• A. C. T., A.C.T., ACT, ATC, Act., CTA, TAC, TCA, act, act., tac

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay cat, from Min Nan ? (chhat), from Middle Chinese ? (tsit).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t??at?]
• Hyphenation: cat

Noun

cat (first-person possessive catku, second-person possessive catmu, third-person possessive catnya)

1. paint (substance)

Affixed terms

Compounds

Further reading

• “cat” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Alternative forms

• cut (Cois Fharraige)

Etymology

From Old Irish catt, from Latin cattus.

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Aran) IPA^(key): /k?t??/
• (Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /kat??/
• (Cois Fharraige) IPA^(key): /k?t??/ (as if spelled cut)

Noun

cat m (genitive singular cait, nominative plural cait)

1. cat (domestic feline; member of the Felidae)

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

Further reading

• "cat" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• “cat” in Foclóir Gae?ilge agus Béarla, Irish Texts Society, 1st ed., 1904, by Patrick S. Dinneen, page 121.
• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “catt”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Entries containing “cat” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “cat” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

Malay

Etymology

From Min Nan ? (chhat), from Middle Chinese ? (tsit).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??at/
• Rhymes: -t??at, -at

Noun

cat (Jawi spelling ???, informal 1st possessive catku, impolite 2nd possessive catmu, 3rd possessive catnya)

1. paint (substance)

Affixed terms

• bercat
• mengecat (active): to paint
  • dicat (passive): to be painted
• catan: painting (an artwork in the form of a painted picture)
• pengecatan: the action of applying paint to something (e.g. a surface, etc.)
• pengecat: painter (a person whose job is paining buildings)

Further reading

• “cat” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• catte

Etymology

From Old English catt, catte; this is in turn from Proto-Germanic *kattuz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kat/

Noun

cat (plural cats)

1. cat (feline)

Synonyms

• badde

Descendants

• English: cat
• Scots: cat
• Yola: kaudès (plural)

References

• “cat, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norman

Etymology

From Old Northern French cat (variant of Old French chat) from Late Latin cattus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka/

Noun

cat m (plural cats, feminine catte)

1. cat
   • c. 1830, George Métivier, ‘Lamentations de Damaris’:

     Où'est donc qu'j'iron, mé et mes puches / Ma catte, et l'reste de l'écu?

   • 2006, Peggy Collenette, ‘D'la gâche de Guernési’, P'tites Lures Guernésiaises, Cromwell Press 2006, page 20:

     Ils d'visirent pour enne haeure, mais la Louise était pas chagrinaïe au tour sa pâte, pasqué a savait que le cat était à gardaïr la pâte caoude. (They talked for an hour, but Louise was not worried about her dough, because she knew that the cat was keeping the dough warm.)

2. (Jersey) common dab (Limanda limanda)

Derived terms

• catchiéthe (“cat-flap”)

Old French

Noun

cat m (oblique plural caz or catz, nominative singular caz or catz, nominative plural cat)

1. (Picardy, Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of chat

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish ???? (kat).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kat/
• Rhymes: -at

Noun

cat n (plural caturi)

1. (dated) floor (storey)
   • 1892, Barbu ?tef?nescu Delavrancea, Mr. Vucea:

     Mi-aduc bine aminte c? unul s?rea de la al cincilea cat, ?i c-o mân? î?i ?inea p?l?ria. Grozav îi era de p?l?rie!

     I remember well that one was jumping from the fifth floor, and was holding his hat with one hand. That proud was he of the hat!

Declension

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish catt, borrowed from Late Latin cattus. Cognates include Irish cat and Manx kayt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?a?t?/

Noun

cat m (genitive singular cait, plural cait)

1. cat (Felis catus)

Declension

Derived terms

• clòimh-chat

Mutation

English

Etymology

From Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta (“to throw, cast, overturn”), from Proto-Germanic *kast?n? (“to throw, cast”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots cast (“to cast, throw”), Danish kaste (“to throw”), Swedish kasta (“to throw, cast, fling, toss, discard”), Icelandic kasta (“to pitch, toss”). In the sense of "flinging", displaced native warp.

The senses relating to broadcasting are based on that same term; compare -cast.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation): enPR: käst, IPA^(key): /k??st/
• (Northern England): enPR: k?st, IPA^(key): /kast/
• (General American): enPR: k?st, IPA^(key): /kæst/
• Rhymes: -??st, -æst
• Homophones: caste, karst

Verb

cast (third-person singular simple present casts, present participle casting, simple past and past participle cast or (nonstandard) casted)

1. (physical) To move, or be moved, away.
   1. (now somewhat literary) To throw. [from 13^thc.]
      • 1623, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona:

        Why then a Ladder quaintly made of Cords / To cast vp, with a paire of anchoring hookes, / Would serue to scale another Hero's towre […].

      • 1760, Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, p.262:

        The more, an' please your honour, the pity, said the Corporal; in uttering which, he cast his spade into the wheelbarrow […].

   2. To throw forward (a fishing line, net etc.) into the sea. [from 14^thc.]
      • 1526, Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 4:

        As Jesus walked by the see off Galile, he sawe two brethren: Simon which was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, castynge a neet into the see (for they were fisshers) […].

   3. To throw down or aside. [from 15^thc.]
      • 1611, Bible, Authorized Version, Matthew VI.30:

        it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

      • 1930, "Sidar the Madman", Time, 19 Dec.:

        Near Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, Madman, co-pilot and plane were caught in a storm, cast into the Caribbean, drowned.

      • 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, 2010, p.316:

        Her bow is not to her liking. In a temper, she casts it on the grass.

   4. (of an animal) To throw off (the skin) as a process of growth; to shed the hair or fur of the coat. [from 15^thc.]
   5. To cause (a horse or other large animal) to lie down with its legs underneath it.
   6. (obsolete except in set phrases) To remove, take off (clothes). [from 14^thc.]
      • 1822, "Life of Donald McBane", Blackwood's Magazine, vol.12, p.745:

        when the serjeant saw me, he cast his coat and put it on me, and they carried me on their shoulders to a village where the wounded were and our surgeons […].

      • 2002, Jess Cartner-Morley, "How to Wear Clothes", The Guardian, 2 March:

        You know the saying, "Ne'er cast a clout till May is out"? Well, personally, I'm bored of my winter clothes by March.

   7. (nautical) To heave the lead and line in order to ascertain the depth of water.
   8. (obsolete) To vomit.

      • These verses […] make me ready to cast.

   9. (archaic) To throw up, as a mound, or rampart.

      • Thine enemies shall cast a trench [bank] about thee.
   10. (archaic) To throw out or emit; to exhale.
       • 1695 (first published), 1726 (final dated of publication) John Woodward, An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies

         This […] casts a sulphurous smell.

   • 1849, Philip Henry Gosse, Natural History

     This horned bird, as it casts a strong smell, so it hath a foul look, much exceeding the European Raven in bigness

2. To direct (one's eyes, gaze etc.). [from 13^thc.]
   • 1595, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3:

     To whom do Lyons cast their gentle Lookes? Not to the Beast, that would vsurpe their Den.

   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, I.11:

     She then yawned again, threw aside her book, and cast her eyes round the room in quest of some amusement […].
3. (dated) To add up (a column of figures, accounts etc.); cross-cast refers to adding up a row of figures. [from 14^thc.]
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2:

     The Clearke of Chartam: hee can write and / reade, and cast accompt.

   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

     I cast up the notches on my post, and found I had been on shore three hundred and sixty-five days.

4. (social) To predict, to decide, to plan.
   1. (astrology) To calculate the astrological value of (a horoscope, birth etc.). [from 14^thc.]
      • , vol.1, New York Review of Books, 2001, p.309:

        he is […] a perfect astrologer, that can cast the rise and fall of others, and mark their errant motions to his own use.

      • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, 2012, p.332:

        John Gadbury confessed that Mrs Cellier, ‘the Popish Midwife’, had asked him to cast the King's nativity, although the astrology claimed to have refused to do so.

      • 1985, Lawrence Durrell, Quinx, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p.1197:

        He did the washing up and stayed behind to watch the dinner cook while she hopped off with a friend to have her horoscope cast by another friend.

   2. (obsolete) To plan, intend. [14^th-19^thc.]
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.i:

        I wrapt my selfe in Palmers weed, / And cast to seeke him forth through daunger and great dreed.

      • 1685, William Temple, "Upon the Gardens of Epicurus

        The cloister […] had, I doubt not, been cast for [an orange-house].

   3. (transitive) To assign (a role in a play or performance). [from 18^thc.]

   4. (transitive) To assign a role in a play or performance to (an actor).

   5. To consider; to turn or revolve in the mind; to plan.

      • She […] cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

   6. (archaic) To impose; to bestow; to rest.
      • Cast thy burden upon the Lord.

   7. (archaic) To defeat in a lawsuit; to decide against; to convict.
      • 1822, John Galt, The Provost

        She was cast to be hanged.

      • 1667, Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety

        Were the case referred to any competent judge, […] they would inevitably be cast.

   8. To turn (the balance or scale); to overbalance; hence, to make preponderate; to decide.
      • 24 July, 1659, Robert South, Interest Deposed, and Truth Restored

        How much interest casts the balance in cases dubious!

5. To perform, bring forth (a magical spell or enchantment).
6. To throw (light etc.) on or upon something, or in a given direction.
   • 1950, "A Global View", Time, 24 April:

     The threat of Russian barbarism sweeping over the free world will cast its ominous shadow over us for many, many years.

   • 1960, Lawrence Durrell, Clea:

     A sudden thought cast a gloom over his countenance.

7. (archaic) To give birth to (a child) prematurely; to miscarry. [from 15^thc.]
   • , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.98:

     being with childe, they may without feare of accusation, spoyle and cast [transl. avorter] their children, with certaine medicaments, which they have only for that purpose.

   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, V.20:

     The abortion of a woman they describe by an horse kicking a wolf; because a mare will cast her foal if she tread in the track of that animal.

9. To shape (molten metal etc.) by pouring into a mould; to make (an object) in such a way. [from 15^thc.]
   • 1923, "Rodin's Death", Time, 24 March:

     One copy of the magnificent caveman, The Thinker, of which Rodin cast several examples in bronze, is seated now in front of the Detroit Museum of Art, where it was placed last autumn.

   1. (printing, dated) To stereotype or electrotype.
10. To twist or warp (of fabric, timber etc.). [from 16^thc.]
    • c. 1680, Joseph Moxon, The Art of Joinery

      Stuff is said to cast or warp when […] it alters its flatness or straightness.

11. (nautical) To bring the bows of a sailing ship on to the required tack just as the anchor is weighed by use of the headsail; to bring (a ship) round. [from 18^thc.]
12. To deposit (a ballot or voting paper); to formally register (one's vote). [from 19^thc.]
13. (computing) To change a variable type from, for example, integer to real, or integer to text. [from 20^thc.]

14. (hunting) Of dogs, hunters: to spread out and search for a scent. [from 18^thc.]
    • 1955, William Golding, The Inheritors, Faber and Faber, 2005, p.50:

      He clambered on to an apron of rock that held its area out to the sun and began to cast across it. The direction of the wind changed and the scent touched him again.

15. (medicine) To set (a bone etc.) in a cast.

    (Can we add an example for this sense?)

16. (Wicca) To open a circle in order to begin a spell or meeting of witches.
17. (media) To broadcast.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

cast (plural casts)

1. An act of throwing.
2. (fishing) An instance of throwing out a fishing line.
3. Something which has been thrown, dispersed etc.

   • a cast of scatter'd dust

4. A small mass of earth "thrown off" or excreted by a worm.

5. The collective group of actors performing a play or production together. Contrasted with crew.

   He’s in the cast of Oliver.

   The cast was praised for a fine performance.

6. The casting procedure.

   The men got into position for the cast, two at the ladle, two with long rods, all with heavy clothing.

7. An object made in a mould.

   The cast would need a great deal of machining to become a recognizable finished part.

8. A supportive and immobilising device used to help mend broken bones.

   The doctor put a cast on the boy’s broken arm.

9. The mould used to make cast objects.

   A plaster cast was made from his face.

10. (hawking) The number of hawks (or occasionally other birds) cast off at one time; a pair.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.7:

      As when a cast of Faulcons make their flight / An an Herneshaw, that lyes aloft on wing […].

11. A squint.
    • 1847, John Churchill, A manual of the principles and practice of ophthalmic medicine and surgery, p. 389, paragraph 1968:

      The image of the affected eye is clearer and in consequence the diplopy more striking the less the cast of the eye; hence the double vision will be noticed by the patient before the misdirection of the eye attracts the attention of those about him.

    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 7:

      Arriving in Brittany, the Woodville exiles found a sallow young man, with dark hair curled in the shoulder-length fashion of the time and a penchant for expensively dyed black clothes, whose steady gaze was made more disconcerting by a cast in his left eye – such that while one eye looked at you, the other searched for you.

12. Visual appearance.

    Her features had a delicate cast to them.
13. The form of one's thoughts, mind etc.

    a cast of mind, a mental tendency.

    • 1894, Wilson Lloyd Bevan, Sir William Petty : A Study in English Economic Literature, p. 40:

      The cast of mind which prompted the plan was permanent, and in it are to be found both the strength and the weakness of Petty's character.

    • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 330:

      I have read all her articles and come to admire both her elegant turn of phrase and the noble cast of mind which inspires it; but never, I confess, did I look to see beauty and wit so perfectly united.

14. An animal, especially a horse, that is unable to rise without assistance.
15. Animal and insect remains which have been regurgitated by a bird.
16. A group of crabs.
17. A broadcast.

Derived terms

• castless
• plaster cast

Translations

Further reading

• cast at OneLook Dictionary Search
• cast in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• ACTs, ATCs, ATSC, Acts, CATs, CTAs, Cats, STCA, TACS, TCAS, TCAs, TSCA, acts, cats, scat

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Occitan [Term?], from Latin castus, possibly borrowed or semi-learned.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?kast/

Adjective

cast (feminine casta, masculine plural casts or castos, feminine plural castes)

1. chaste

Related terms

• castedat

Further reading

• “cast” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [k??st]
• Hyphenation: cast

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English cast.

Noun

cast m (plural casts, diminutive castje n)

1. cast (people performing a movie or play)

Synonyms

• rolbezetting
• rolverdeling

Related terms

• casten

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

cast

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of casten
2. imperative of casten

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English cast.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kast/
• Hyphenation: càst

Noun

cast m (invariable)

1. cast (group of actors performing together)

Manx

Adjective

cast

1. contorted, curly, curved
2. complex, intricate, many-sided
3. ticklish

Mutation

Derived terms

• castid
• castys
• neuchast
• yl-chast

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin castus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kast/

Adjective

cast m or n (feminine singular cast?, masculine plural ca?ti, feminine and neuter plural caste)

1. chaste, clean, pure

Declension

Synonyms

• pur

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kast/, [?kast?]

Noun

cast m (plural casts)

1. cast (group of actors)