Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A young cat.
  • noun One of the young of various other small felines and of certain other mammals, such as beavers.
  • intransitive verb To bear kittens.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A young cat; any young animal of the cat kind.
  • noun One of several bombycid moths or pussmoths. The poplar-kitten is Dicranura bifida; the alder-kitten is D. bicuspis.
  • To bring forth young, as a cat.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A young cat.
  • verb To bring forth young, as a cat; to bring forth, as kittens.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A young cat. Diminutive: kitty.
  • noun A young rabbit, rat, hedgehog, squirrel, fox, beaver or badger.
  • verb To give birth to kittens.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb have kittens
  • noun young domestic cat

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English kitoun, probably from Old North French *caton, diminutive of cat, cat, from Late Latin cattus.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English kiton, kitoun, kyton ("kitten"), diminutive of cat ("cat"). First element probably from Middle English kiteling ("kitten, kit"), from Old Norse ketlingr ("kitten"). Compare Low German kitten ("kitten"). More at kitling, cat, -en.

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Examples

  • The twin kitten is doing fine, though he does like to wear his food. i never got around to naming them. suggestions? at

    Archive 2008-10-01 2008

  • The twin kitten is doing fine, though he does like to wear his food. i never got around to naming them. suggestions? at

    Bibliophile Bullpen 2008

  • Katie called her friend with the cattery, and because she had to rush off to work, I hung around and waited for the friend to arrive, which she did, and now the kitten is at the vet.

    an eventful morning! 2008

  • Your kitten is an animal; she grows bigger every day; and she moves about.

    The Mother's Book 1831

  • If a tweet contains the word "kitten," that's not going to be very helpful.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed EMILY JACKSON 2011

  • The word kitten is equivalent to a guarantee of fostering in our house, and the fact that he couldn’t walk just sealed the deal.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul: Loving Our Cats Jack Canfield 2008

  • The word kitten is equivalent to a guarantee of fostering in our house, and the fact that he couldn’t walk just sealed the deal.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul: Loving Our Cats Jack Canfield 2008

  • Still to come: Pimco's chief still thinks the economy needs Congress's help; retiring senator Evan Bayh counsels spending restraint; California's newly passed Proposition 26 could make climate change regulation impossible; anti-union education reform groups are showing political strength; and a kitten is confused by his reflection in a mirror.

    Wonkbook: Welcome to gridlocked America Ezra Klein 2010

  • After being accidentally separated from her mother and siblings, a kitten is taken in by a human family.

    Anime Preview: Spring 2009 « Undercover 2009

  • Whether a kitten is male or female, it's always "un chaton" - Oh! le mignon petit chaton ...

    amusette - French Word-A-Day 2010

Comments

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  • Alice, near wakening in Through the Looking-Glass, in reaction to a newly doll-sized Red Queen:

    At any other time, Alice would have felt surprised at this, but she was far too much excited to be surprised at anything now. "As for you," she repeated, catching hold of the little creature in the very act of jumping over a bottle which had just lighted upon the table, "I'll shake you into a kitten, that I will!"

    July 18, 2008