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meow . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
meow , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
meow in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
meow you have here. The definition of the word
meow will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
meow , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
A pleading cat.
Alternative forms
Etymology
Alteration of earlier mew , from Middle English mewen ( “ to mew, meow ” ) , of onomatopoeic origin.
Compare Saterland Frisian mauje , miauje ( “ to meow ” ) , West Frisian miaukje ( “ to meow ” ) , Dutch miauwen ( “ to meow ” ) , Middle Low German mauwen , mawen , mouwen ( “ to meow ” ) (whence modern German Low German mauen , miauen ( “ to meow ” ) ), Middle High German mouen , modern German miauen ( “ to meow ” ) . Some spellings were modelled on French miaou . Meow and its spelling variants entered widespread currency in the 19th century, mostly replacing mew , possibly as phonetic change meant that word had ceased to approximate a cat's cry (note the pronunciation of Middle English mewen /ˈmɛu̯ən/ compared to modern /ˈmjuː/ ).
Pronunciation
Interjection
meow
The cry of a cat .
Synonyms: ( anime and manga fandom ) nyao , nyan , nyaa
( colloquial ) Said in reply to a spiteful or catty comment.
( colloquial ) Expressing seductiveness , mimicking a growl.
Translations
cry of a cat
Bashkir: мыяу ( mıyaw )
Belarusian: мяў ( mjaŭ ) , мяу ( mjau )
Bikol Central: ngiyaw
Bulgarian: мя́у ( mjáu )
Catalan: mèu (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 喵 ( miu1 )
Mandarin: 喵 (zh) ( miāo ) , 咪咪 (zh) ( mīmī )
Czech: mňau (cs)
Danish: mjav (da) , miav
Dutch: miauw (nl)
Dzongkha: སྨེ ( sme )
Esperanto: miaŭ (eo)
Estonian: mäu (et) , näu , mjäu , njäu
Faroese: mjarr , mjavv
Finnish: miau (fi) , mau (fi)
French: miaou (fr)
Galician: miau (gl)
German: miau (de) , maunz (de)
Greek: νιάου (el) ( niáou )
Hawaiian: ʻoau , ʻowau
Hebrew: מיאו
Hindi: म्याऊँ ( myāū̃ )
Hungarian: miau (hu)
Icelandic: mjá (is)
Indonesian: meong (id)
Interlingua: miau
Irish: míáú
Italian: miao (it)
Japanese: ニャー (ja) ( nyā ) , ニャン ( nyan )
Jarai: meo
Kannada: ಮಿಯಾವ್ ( miyāv )
Kazakh: мияу ( miäu )
Khmer: ង៉ាវៗ ( ŋaav-ŋaav )
Korean: 야옹 (ko) ( yaong )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: میاو (ckb) ( myaw )
Lao: ເໝີວຍາ ( miao )
Latgalian: ņau
Latin: miau
Latvian: ņau , mjau
Lithuanian: miau (lt)
Luxembourgish: miau
Malay: ngeong , miau (ms) , ngiau (ms)
Mongolian: мяу ( mjau )
Nepali: म्याउ ( myāu )
Northern Thai: ᩉ᩠ᨾᩢ᩠ᨿ᩠ᩅ
Norwegian: mjau (no)
Persian: میو (fa) ( miyu )
Polish: miau (pl)
Portuguese: miau (pt)
Romanian: miau (ro) , miorlau (ro)
Russian: мя́у (ru) ( mjáu )
Scottish Gaelic: miamha
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мјау , мњау
Roman: mjau , mnjau
Slovak: mňau
Slovene: mjav
Spanish: miau (es) , ñau (es) , ñew m
Swedish: mjau (sv)
Tagalog: ingaw , ngiyaw
Tamil: மியாவ் ( miyāv )
Telugu: మ్యావ్ ( myāv )
Thai: เหมียว (th) ( mǐao )
Turkish: miyav (tr)
Ukrainian: няв ( njav )
Vietnamese: ngoao (vi) , ngao (vi) , meo (vi) , méo (vi) ( emphatic )
Volapük: miov
Yiddish: מיאַו ( myau )
Noun
meow (countable and uncountable , plural meows )
( countable ) The cry of a cat.
1968 , Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Quinn the Eskimo”:A cat’s meow and a cow’s moo, I can recite them all / Just tell me where it hurts you, honey
( UK , slang , uncountable ) The drug mephedrone .
Synonyms: drone , meow meow
Derived terms
Translations
cry of a cat
Arabic: مُوَاء (ar) m ( muwāʔ )
Armenian: մլավոց (hy) ( mlavocʻ )
Bulgarian: мяу ( mjau )
Catalan: miol (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 喵 ( meu1 )
Mandarin: 喵 (zh) ( miāo ) , 咪咪 (zh) ( mīmī ) , 貓叫聲 / 猫叫声 (zh) ( māojiàoshēng )
Czech: mňoukání (cs) n , zamňoukání n
Danish: miav , mjav (da) , miau (da)
Dutch: miauw (nl) , gemiauw (nl) n
Esperanto: miaŭo (eo)
Estonian: mjäu , näu
Faroese: mjarr
Finnish: nau’unta , naukuminen (fi) , naukuna
French: miaou (fr) m , miaulement (fr) m , nyaw f
Galician: miau (gl)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Miau (de) n , Gemiaue n , Gemaunze n , Miauen n
Greek: νιαούρισμα (el) n ( niaoúrisma )
Icelandic: mjálm (is) n
Ido: miaulo (io)
Indonesian: meong (id)
Interlingua: miau
Irish: meamhlach f
Italian: miao (it)
Japanese: にゃ (ja) ( nya ) , にゃあ (ja) ( nyā ) , ニャア ( nyā )
Kapampangan: miyaw , ngeung
Korean: 야옹 (ko) ( yaong )
Latvian: ņaudiens m
Lithuanian: miau (lt)
Malay: ngeong , ngiau (ms) , ngiauan
Norwegian: mjau (no)
Polish: miau (pl) , miauczenie (pl) n , miauk (pl) m
Portuguese: miado (pt)
Quechua: miyaw ñiy
Romanian: mieunat (ro) n , miorlăit (ro) n
Russian: мяу́кание (ru) n ( mjaúkanije )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мјаукање n , мјаук m
Roman: mjaukanje n , mjauk (sh) m
Slovak: mňau
Slovene: mjavkanje n
Spanish: maullido (es) m
Swedish: mjau (sv) n , jamande (sv) n
Tagalog: ingaw , ngiyaw
Turkish: miyav (tr)
Vietnamese: meo meo , mèo mèo
Volapük: miov
Verb
meow (third-person singular simple present meows , present participle meowing , simple past and past participle meowed )
( intransitive ) Of a cat, to make its cry.
Conjugation
Synonyms
Translations
of a cat, to make its cry
Arabic: مَاءَ (ar) ( māʔa ) , تَمَوَّأَ ( tamawwaʔa )
Armenian: մլավել (hy) ( mlavel )
Catalan: miolar (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: please add this translation if you can
Mandarin: 貓叫 / 猫叫 (zh) ( māojiào ) , 咪咪叫 (zh) ( mīmī jiào )
Crimean Tatar: miyavlamaq
Czech: mňoukat (cs) impf , mňouknout pf
Danish: mjave
Dutch: miauwen (nl)
Esperanto: miaŭi (eo)
Estonian: näuguma , kräunuma
Faroese: mjarra , mjavma , mjavva , mjóma
Finnish: naukua (fi)
French: miauler (fr)
Galician: miañar (gl)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: miauen (de) , maunzen (de) , mauzen
Greek: νιαουρίζω (el) ( niaourízo )
Hungarian: nyávog (hu)
Icelandic: mjálma
Ido: miaular (io)
Interlingua: miaular
Italian: miagolare (it)
Japanese: にゃあと鳴く ( にゃあとなく, nyā to naku ) , 鳴く (ja) ( なく, naku )
Kapampangan: magmiyaw , magngeung
Kazakh: мияулау ( miäulau )
Korean: 야옹하다 ( yaonghada )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: میاواندن ( myawandin )
Latin: felio , maumo
Latvian: ņaudēt
Lithuanian: miauksėti
Malay: please add this translation if you can
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: мяалах ( mjaalax )
Norman: miaûner , vioûler
Norwegian: mjaue (no)
Polish: miauczeć (pl)
Portuguese: miar (pt)
Romanian: mieuna (ro) , miorlăi (ro)
Russian: мяу́кать (ru) impf ( mjaúkatʹ ) , мяу́кнуть (ru) pf ( mjaúknutʹ ) ( semelfactive )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мјаукати , мјаукнути
Roman: mjaukati (sh) , mjauknuti (sh)
Slovak: mňaukať
Slovene: mjavkati
Spanish: maullar (es) , hacer miau , miagar (es) (Cantabria )
Swedish: jama (sv)
Tagalog: umingaw , ngumiyaw
Turkish: miyavlamak (tr)
Turkmen: mawlamak
Uzbek: miyovlamoq (uz)
Venetian: znjaołar
Volapük: miovön (vo)