different between kitten vs litten

English

Etymology

From Middle English kitoun, kytton, kyton, keton (“kitten”). Seemingly from, and usually explained as being from, unattested Anglo-Norman *kitoun, *ketun (compare Old French chitoun, cheton, chaton (“kitten”), diminutive of cat, chat (“cat”)); whence Modern French chaton (“kitten”). Similar words of Germanic origin may have reinforced this word; compare English kitling (“kit, kitten”), Low German Kitten (“kitten”), Icelandic kettlingur (“kitten”), Middle English chitte ("whelp, pup", see chit).

The idea that kitoun, rather than being of Anglo-Norman origin, was in fact a purely Germanic derivation from one of these words is etymologically problematic, but cannot be definitively ruled out.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?t?n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): [?k?.?n?]
• Rhymes: -?t?n
• Hyphenation: kit?ten

Noun

kitten (plural kittens)

1. A young cat, especially before sexual maturity (reached at about seven months).
   • 1752 January, The London Magazine, and Monthly Chronologer, pages 243 and 244.

   • 1844, , The Kitten, publ. by the Religious Tract Society, pages 1 and 2.
2. A young rabbit, rat, hedgehog, squirrel, fox, beaver, badger, etc.
   • 1906, Joseph Henry Taylor, Beavers, Their Ways, and Other Sketches, page 49.

   • 2009, Kathryn Walker, See How Rabbits Grow, publ. by PowerKiDS press (The Rosen Publishing Group Inc.), page 10.

3. A moth of the genus Furcula.
   • 1959, Odonata reprints: J. G. Needham collection, vol. 3, page 657.

4. (colloquial) A term of endearment, especially for a woman.
   • 1995, Duckman, "America the Beautiful" (season 2, episode 5):

     Speak only when spoken to, kitten.

Synonyms

• (young cat): catling (archaic), kit, kitling (archaic), kitty, kitty cat

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

kitten (third-person singular simple present kittens, present participle kittening, simple past and past participle kittened)

1. To give birth to kittens.

Further reading

• kitten on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Kittens on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• tektin

Dutch

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English kitten.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?t?n/
• Hyphenation: kit?ten
• Rhymes: -?t?n

Noun

kitten m (plural kittens, diminutive kittentje n)

1. a young cat; kitten
   • 2015, Joubert Pignon, "Kittens", in Paul van der Steen (ed.), Negenenhalf leven. Nieuwe en klassieke kattenverhalen, Xander Uitgevers B.V. (publ.).

Synonyms

• (young cat): kattenjong

Derived terms

• ritten

Etymology 2

From kit (“sealant”) +? -en.

Verb

kitten

1. (transitive) to apply sealant to
   • 1996, dr. A.M. Soeterboek & drs. L.F. Stapper, Het geneesmiddel en zijn toepassing, Bohn Stafleu van Loghum (publ., 9th ed.), page 21.

Inflection

Derived terms

• afkitten
• dichtkitten

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun

kitten

1. Plural form of kit

German

Etymology

Kitt +? -en

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?k?tn?]
• Hyphenation: kit?ten

Verb

kitten (weak, third-person singular present kittet, past tense kittete, past participle gekittet, auxiliary haben)

1. to putty, to cement

Conjugation

Further reading

• “kitten” in Duden online

English

Etymology

Pseudo-archaic formation from lit +? -en.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?t?n

Verb

litten

1. (archaic) past participle of light
   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer in Darkness, chapter 7:

     They’ve been inside the earth, too—there are openings which human beings know nothing of—some of them in these very Vermont hills—and great worlds of unknown life down there; blue-litten K’n-yan, red-litten Yoth, and black, lightless N’kai.

Derived terms

• moonlitten
• starlitten

Anagrams

• TELINT, lettin'

German

Pronunciation

Verb

litten

1. inflection of leiden:
   1. first/third-person plural preterite
   2. first/third-person plural subjunctive II