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tabby

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tabby¹

  • /ˈtæb.i/

Rhymes with -æbi

Where it comes from

Mid 17th century French tabis, from Arabic عَتَّابِيّ (ʕattābiyy), ultimately from Arabic الْعَتَّابِيَّة (al-ʕattābiyya), a quarter of Baghdad (named for a Prince عَتَّاب (ʕattāb)) which is associated with the manufacture of a certain type of waved silk. See also taffeta, another type of silk whose name derives from the Persian تافته (tâfta, “woven cloth”) and shares a similar etymological origin.

noun tabbies

  1. countable, uncountable A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering. "Ay, ay; she wore a flowered silk tabby sacque, on band days," said Toole, who had an eye and a corner in his memory for female costume, "a fine showy—I remember."
  2. uncountable A concrete mixture of lime with shells, gravel, or stones, in equal proportions, with an equal proportion of water. When dry, this becomes as hard as rock.
  3. countable A brindled cat. A wise tabby, a blinking sphinx, watched from her warm sill. Pity to disturb them. Mohammed cut a piece out of his mantle not to wake her.
  4. Australia, countable, slang, uncountable A woman, irrespective of age, but often used for a young, attractive woman. ‘The kids go for a drive in a borrowed car, park on another street between the corner lamps, and then there’s ructions because some little tabby gets up the stick.’
  5. archaic, countable An old maid or gossip.

    Similar: old woman

adjective tabbier · tabbiest

  1. Having a wavy or watered appearance. a tabby waistcoat
  2. Brindled; diversified in color. a tabby cat

verb tabbies · tabbying · tabbied

  1. transitive To give a wavy or watered appearance to (a textile).

Tabby²

Where it comes from

Diminutive + -y.

proper noun

  1. A diminutive of the female given name Tabitha.
  2. A diminutive of the female given name Tabetha.

Translations

Every language

noun cat

Españolgato atigrado, gato romano, mish barcino
日本語トラネコ toraneko, 虎猫 toraneko, トラ猫 toraneko
中文虎斑貓 /虎斑猫 hǔbānmāo, 斑貓 /斑猫 bānmāo
Portuguêsgato tigrado
Françaischat tigré, tabby
DeutschTabby
Italianosoriano, gatto soriano
Русскийполоса́тая ко́шка polosátaja kóška, полоса́тый кот polosátyj kot
العربيةعَتَّابِي ʕattābī

adj brindled

Españolatigrado, barcino
Portuguêstigrado
Françaismoiré, ondé, tigré
Italianosoriano
العربيةعَتَّابِي ʕattābī

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MLA

"tabby." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tabby. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tabby. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tabby

Chicago

"tabby." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tabby.

BibTeX
@misc{tabby_2026,
  title = {tabby},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tabby},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}