So how do you say “cat” in your neck of the woods? Interestingly, the word for “cat” is surprisingly similar around the world. That may be due to how our kitties traveled around the world from one general area, and so the original name traveled with him, and was simply changed slightly by the people there.

Three types of names seem to have evolved: those based on the action of the cat, by the sound a cat makes, or by his ancient link to feline deities.

Egypt, home of the first domesticated cats, named him mau which signifies seerer (from the word mau, “to see”). We can speculate that arose from cats being associated with the all-seeing Eye of Horus, but others suggest the word came from the distinct sound cats make (the meow). In fact, China’s word for cat is miu.

Ancient Egyptian cat gods

The ancient cat god was called Pasht, Posth, Bast, Bastet and similar words. So the term puss could indeed have stemmed from these first names. However, the word may instead have evolved from the Latin “pusus” and “pusa” which mean “little boy” and “little girl.” Even then, folks considered their cats as their children!

Romans called the cat felis from the root word “felix” which means, “a good and auspicious omen” linked to magic. Later, the Romans called them catta, the same name as for the weasel, as both cats and weasels were used as vermin catchers.

What do other languages call cats? Here’s a few to get us started:

Arabic--kittah
French--chat
Polish--kot or gatto
Spanish--gato