different between cat vs number

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

Alternative forms

• nummer (dialectal)
• numbre (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From Middle English number, nombre, numbre, noumbre, from Anglo-Norman noumbre, Old French nombre, from Latin numerus (“number”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to divide”). Compare Saterland Frisian Nummer, Nuumer, West Frisian nûmer, Dutch nummer (“number”), German Nummer (“number”), Danish nummer (“number”), Swedish nummer (“number”), Icelandic númer (“number”). Replaced Middle English ?etæl and rime, more at tell, tale and rhyme.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: n?m?b?r, IPA^(key): /?n?mb?/
• (General American) enPR: n?m?b?r, IPA^(key): /?n?mb?/
• Rhymes: -?mb?(?)
• Hyphenation: num?ber

Noun

number (plural numbers)

1. (countable) An abstract entity used to describe quantity.

2. (countable) A numeral: a symbol for a non-negative integer.

   Synonyms: scalar, (obsolete) rime

3. (countable, mathematics) An element of one of several sets: natural numbers, integers, rational numbers, real numbers, complex numbers, and sometimes extensions such as hypercomplex numbers, etc.

4. (Followed by a numeral; used attributively) Indicating the position of something in a list or sequence. Abbreviations: No or No., no or no. (in each case, sometimes written with a superscript "o", like Nº or ?). The symbol "#" is also used in this manner.

5. Quantity.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates

     Number itself importeth not much in armies where the people are of weak courage.

6. A sequence of digits and letters used to register people, automobiles, and various other items.

7. (countable, informal) A telephone number.
   • 2001, E. Forrest Hein, The Ruach Project, Xulon Press, page 86:

     “[...] I wonder if you could get hold of him and have him call me here at Interior. I’m in my office, do you have my number?”

   • 2007, Lindsey Nicole Isham, No Sex in the City: One Virgin's Confessions on Love, Lust, Dating, and Waiting, Kregel Publications, page 111:

     When I agreed to go surfing with him he said, “Great, can I have your number?” Well, I don’t give my number to guys I don’t know.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Marsha's work number is 555-8986.

8. (grammar) Of a word or phrase, the state of being singular, dual or plural, shown by inflection.

   Synonym: numeral

9. (now rare, in the plural) Poetic metres; verses, rhymes.
10. (countable) A performance; especially, a single song or song and dance routine within a larger show.

11. (countable, informal) A person.
    • 1968, Janet Burroway, The dancer from the dance: a novel, Little, Brown, page 40:

      I laughed. "Don't doubt that. She's a saucy little number."

    • 1988, Erica Jong, Serenissima, Dell, page 214:

      "Signorina Jessica," says the maid, a saucy little number, "your father has gone to his prayers and demands that you come to the synagogue at once [...]"

    • 2005, Denise A. Agnew, Kate Hill & Arianna Hart, By Honor Bound, Ellora's Cave Publishing, page 207:

      He had to focus on the mission, staying alive and getting out, not on the sexy number rubbing up against him.

12. (countable, informal) An item of clothing, particularly a stylish one.
    • 2007, Cesca Martin, Agony Angel: So You Think You've Got Problems..., Troubador Publishing Ltd, page 134:

      The trouble was I was wearing my backless glittering number from the night before underneath, so unless I could persuade the office it was National Fancy Dress Day I was doomed to sweat profusely in bottle blue.

    • 2007, Lorelei James, Running with the Devil, Samhain Publishing, Ltd, page 46:

      "I doubt the sexy number you wore earlier tonight fell from the sky."

13. (slang, chiefly US) A marijuana cigarette, or joint; also, a quantity of marijuana bought form a dealer.
    • 2009, Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice, Vintage 2010, page 12:

      Back at his place again, Doc rolled a number, put on a late movie, found an old T-shirt, and sat tearing it up into short strips […]

14. (dated) An issue of a periodical publication.

    the latest number of a magazine

15. A large amount, in contrast to a smaller amount; numerical preponderance.
    • 1980, May 10, Al King "Braves travel to New England with reputation", The Indiana Gazette

      Despite last week's woes, the Braves still sport numbers that would make Christie Brinkley blush.

16. (informal, always indefinite) A large amount of damage

    • (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

number (third-person singular simple present numbers, present participle numbering, simple past and past participle numbered)

1. (transitive) To label (items) with numbers; to assign numbers to (items).

   Number the baskets so that we can find them easily.

2. (intransitive) To total or count; to amount to.

   I don’t know how many books are in the library, but they must number in the thousands.

See also

• (grammatical numbers): singular, dual, trial, quadral, paucal, plural

References

• number on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Derived terms

• number among

Translations

See also

• Wiktionary’s Appendix of numbers

Etymology 2

From numb + -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: n?m'?, IPA^(key): /?n?m?/
• (US): enPR: n?m'?r, IPA^(key): /?n?m?/
• Hyphenation: num?ber

Adjective

number

1. comparative form of numb: more numb

Anagrams

• numbre, renumb

Estonian

Etymology

From German Nummer. The added -b- is analoguous to kamber and klamber.

Noun

number (genitive numbri, partitive numbrit)

1. number

Declension

Middle English

Noun

number

1. Alternative form of nombre

Papiamentu

Etymology

From English number.

An analogy of the Papiamentu word nòmber "name".

Noun

number

1. number