Katze

German

Alternative forms

• Katz (chiefly in idioms)
• Katz'

Etymology

From Middle High German katze, Old High German kazza, from Proto-West Germanic *kattā, from Late Latin catta, feminine of cattus. Akin to Old English catt (“cat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkatsə/ (most of Germany)
• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑtːsə/ (Austro-Bavarian, Switzerland, regional Germany)

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio (Austria)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atsə
• Hyphenation: Kat‧ze

Noun

Katze f (genitive Katze, plural Katzen, diminutive Kätzchen n or Kätzlein n, masculine männliche Katze or Kater, feminine weibliche Katze or Kätzin or Katerin)

1. house cat, Felis silvestris catus

   Synonym: Hauskatze

2. (specifically) female house cat

   Synonym: (uncommon) Kätzin

3. cat (any member of the genus Felis)
4. (astronomy, historical) the obsolete constellation Felis

Usage notes

Katze is the common term to refer to a cat (both male and female ones). The derived form Kätzin is mostly restricted to poetic language and technical language.

Declension

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of "female cat"):

• Kater (“male cat”)

Hypernyms

(cat):

• Säugetier

Hyponyms

(any cat):

• Großkatze (“member of Pantherinae”)
• Kleinkatze
• Kater (“male cat”)
• Käterin (“female cat”) (Austrian, rare)
• Kätzin (“female cat”)

• Perserkatze, Perser m

Derived terms

Further reading

• “Katze” in Duden online
• “Katze” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Katze”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʰat͡sə/

Noun

Katze f

1. plural of Katz

Pennsylvania German

Noun

Katze

1. plural of Katz