kitten

KIT-n/ˈkɪtn̩/

6 meanings of kitten

1
nouncountable
A young cat, especially one not yet sexually mature at around seven months of age.
The kitten mewed loudly until its mother returned to the basket.
Three kittens slept in a heap near the warm radiator.
2
verbtransitive or intransitive
To give birth to young cats.
Most barn cats kitten in early spring when prey is plentiful.
The queen kittened four kits in the warm closet overnight.
3
nouncountable
A young rabbit, rat, hedgehog, squirrel, fox, beaver, badger, or similar small mammal.
Each spring the red squirrel raises a kitten high in the old oak.
The newborn rabbit kittens were blind and hairless for their first days.
4
nouncolloquial
An affectionate term used to address someone, especially a woman one feels fondly toward.
Like pet names such as 'darling' or 'dear' shared between people who are close.
Goodnight, kitten. I'll see you in the morning.
He called her kitten whenever she was feeling low.
Similardarling, sweetheart, honey, sweetie, babe
5
nouncolloquialcountable
A girlfriend, the woman someone is dating or romantically involved with.
He spent the whole evening texting his kitten instead of talking to us.
She became his kitten shortly after they met at college.
Similargirlfriend, sweetheart, girl
6
nouncountable
A moth of the genus Furcula, a group of small notodontid moths closely related to the puss moths.
The collector pinned a freshly caught kitten beside the larger puss moth.
Kittens are most active on warm summer nights near willows and poplars.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English kitoun (also kytton, keton), of obscure origin. It is usually explained as coming from an unattested Anglo-Norman *kitoun, compare Old French chitoun, chaton ("kitten"), a diminutive of chat ("cat"), giving Modern French chaton. Similar Germanic words such as English kitling, Low German Kitten and Icelandic kettlingur may have reinforced it, though a purely Germanic derivation is etymologically problematic and cannot be entirely ruled out.