Katz

See also: Kàtz and katz

English

Etymology

As a Jewish name generally explained as Hebrew כ״ץ (Katz), abbreviation of כֹּהֵן צֶדֶק (kohén tzédeq, literally “righteous priest”).

However, the name also exists among non-Jewish Germans, where it is derived from German Katze (“cat”, cf. English Catt), from various placenames (Katzenelnbogen, Katzenberg, Katzenstein), or even from a byform of Ketzer (“heretic”).

As evidenced by the Dictionary of American family names, several of these names are also found among Jews. Therefore it remains an open question to what extent the interpretation as “righteous priest” is secondary, given that it was a general practice among Ashkenazi Jews to derive or reinterpret names by phono-semantic matching (a prime example being Cohn, principally a German name from Conrad, but popularized among Jews due to the phonetic similarity with the word for “priest” mentioned above).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kæts/
• Rhymes: -æts
• Homophones: cats, Cats, kats, Kats, khats, qats, qhats

Proper noun

Katz

1. A surname; variant form Kats.
   • 2016 September 1, Carl Hoffman, “The project that could help determine Israel's future”, in The Jerusalem Post‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 February 2022:

     IF VOLFER is happy, Transportation Minister Israel Katz seems almost jubilant.

   • 2019 October 7, Kate Springer, “Passports for purchase: Open citizenship doors around the world”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     In 2017, Katz estimated that around 5,000 people per year were acquiring citizenship abroad through CIPs.

Derived terms

• Katzian
• Katz syndrome

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Katz is the 1101^st most common surname in the United States, belonging to 31,780 individuals. Katz is most common among White (95.31%) individuals.

East Central German

Etymology

From Old High German kazza, from Late Latin catta, feminine of cattus. Cognate with German Katze.

Noun

Katz f

1. (Erzgebirgisch) cat

References

• 1992 Karl Heinz Schmidt, Wie dr Schnoobl gewaschen is, P. 27

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kat͡s]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Katz
• Rhymes: -ats
• Homophone: Kats

Noun

Katz f (genitive Katz, plural Katzen) (outside idioms now poetic or colloquial)

1. apocopic form of Katze (“cat”)

Derived terms

• für die Katz
• Katz und Maus
• Katz-und-Maus-Spiel

Further reading

• “Katz” in Duden online
• “Katz”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[3] (in German)

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• khats (Wiesemann spelling)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German katze.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʰat͡s/
• Rhymes: -ats
• Syllabification: Katz

Noun

Katz f (plural Katze, diminutive Ketzje)

1. cat (Felis catus)

   Die Katze jachte Mais.

   The cats hunt mice.

   Meer hon en schwarze un en graue Katz.

   We have a black and a gray cat.

2. (strictly) she-cat

   Coordinate term: (male cat) Kaarer

Derived terms

• Katzekralle
• Katzeschwanz

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From early German Kotz. Cognate with German Kotze.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑts/

  Rhymes: -ɑts

Noun

Katz m or f (uncountable)

1. (informal) vomit, puke

Related terms

• katzen

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Middle High German katze, from Old High German kazza. Cognate with German Katze.

Noun

Katz f (plural Katze)

1. cat