tabby

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtæb.i/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æbi

Noun

tabby (countable and uncountable, plural 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.
   • 1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Church-yard. , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Tinsley, Brothers, , →OCLC:

     '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 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.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 5]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, , →OCLC:

     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. (countable, archaic) An old maid or gossip.

Synonyms

• (An old maid or gossip): See Thesaurus:old woman

Translations

Adjective

tabby (comparative tabbier, superlative tabbiest)

1. Having a wavy or watered appearance.

   a tabby waistcoat

2. Brindled; diversified in color.

   a tabby cat

Translations

Verb

tabby (third-person singular simple present tabbies, present participle tabbying, simple past and past participle tabbied)

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

Derived terms

Anagrams

• baby T