gato

Bambara

Etymology

Borrowed from French gâteau.

Noun

gato

1. cake

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese gato, from Late Latin cattus. See cat for more.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡato/ [ˈɡɑ.t̪ʊ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈɡato/ [ˈɡɑ.t̪ʊ]
• IPA^(key): (gheada) /ˈħato/ [ˈħɑ.t̪ʊ]

• Rhymes: -ato

• Hyphenation: ga‧to

Noun

gato m (plural gatos, feminine gata, feminine plural gatas)

1. cat
   • c. 1295, R. Lorenzo, editor, La traducción gallega de la Crónica General y de la Crónica de Castilla, Ourense: I.E.O.P.F, page 528:

     Et auia muy grã mortaydade ẽnos poboos da vila con fome, et con coyta comiã os gatos et os caes et os mures

     And they had a big mortality among the people of the town with hunger, and with grief they ate the cats and the dogs and the mice

Derived terms

• Gato

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “gato”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “gato”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “gato”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “gato”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “gato”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Further reading

• “gato”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• “gato” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French gâteau.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡato/

Noun

gato

1. cake

Hausa

Etymology

Borrowed from French gateau.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡàː.tôː/

Noun

gā̀tô m (possessed form gā̀tôn)

1. (Niger) cake

   Synonym: (Nigeria) kyât

Ladino

Etymology

From Late Latin cattus. See cat for more.

Noun

gato m (plural gatos)

1. cat

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

From dygato, from gdygato.

Adverb

gato

1. recently

Related terms

• gatny

Further reading

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “gato”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999) “gato”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French gâteau.

Noun

gato

1. cake

References

• Baker, Philip & Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. 1987. Dictionnaire de créole mauricien. Morisyen – English – Français

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀕𑀢𑁄 (Brahmi script)
• गतो (Devanagari script)
• গতো (Bengali script)
• ගතො (Sinhalese script)
• ဂတော or ၷတေႃ (Burmese script)
• คโต or คะโต (Thai script)
• ᨣᨲᩮᩣ (Tai Tham script)
• ຄໂຕ or ຄະໂຕ (Lao script)
• គតោ (Khmer script)
• 𑄉𑄖𑄮 (Chakma script)

Adjective

gato

1. nominative singular masculine of gata, which is past participle of gacchati (“to go”)

Portuguese

gato siamês ― siamese cat

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese gato, from Late Latin cattum; compare also catta, possibly of ultimately Afroasiatic origin. See the etymology at cat for further details.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.tu/

• Rhymes: -atu
• Hyphenation: ga‧to

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

Noun

gato m (plural gatos, feminine gata, feminine plural gatas)

1. cat (domestic cat: Felis silvestris catus)

   Synonyms: (formal designation) gato-doméstico, gato caseiro

   • 2000, J. K. Rowling, Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e o Prisioneiro de Azkaban, Rocco, page 55:

     [...] o gato ronronava feliz nos braços de Hermione.

     [...] the cat was purring happily on Hermione's arms.

2. (by extension) feline, felid, cat

   Synonyms: felino, felídeo

3. one of a number of utensils made of iron or similar material used to fix objects
4. excess flesh on the upper part of riding animals
5. (colloquial) very handsome person

   Synonyms: pão, bom

6. (Brazil, colloquial) an illegal connection to use electricity or watch pay TV for free

   Synonym: gambiarra

7. (Brazil, colloquial) a petty thief

   Synonyms: gatuno, trombadinha

8. (Brazil, colloquial) truck driver who rents boias-frias to work on farming
9. (Alentejo) wineskin
10. (Trás-os-Montes) error, mistake

    Synonyms: erro, engano

11. (Trás-os-Montes) lie (deliberately false statement)

    Synonym: mentira

Derived terms

• aqui há gato
• gata
• gatão (augmentative)
• gatil
• gatinho (diminutive)
• gato persa
• gato pingado
• gato siamês
• quando o gato sai, os ratos fazem a festa

Descendants

• Annobonese: gatu
• Kabuverdianu: gátu
• → Kimbundu: ngatu
• →? Gulf Arabic: قطو (gaṭu)

Adjective

gato (feminine gata, masculine plural gatos, feminine plural gatas, comparable, comparative mais gato, superlative o mais gato or gatíssimo, diminutive gatinho, augmentative gatão)

1. (Brazil, informal, of a person) physically attractive

   Synonyms: belo, bonito, giro

   Ela é muito gata. ― She is very beautiful.

Further reading

• “gato” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Etymology 2

Verb

gato

1. first-person singular present indicative of gatar

Seychellois Creole

Etymology

From French gâteau.

Noun

gato

1. cake

References

• Danielle D’Offay et Guy Lionnet, Diksyonner Kreol - Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois - Français

Spanish

gato

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡato/ [ˈɡa.t̪o]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ato
• Syllabification: ga‧to

Etymology 1

Inherited from Late Latin cattus (compare Catalan gat, French chat, Italian gatto, Portuguese gato). See cat for more.

Noun

gato m (plural gatos, feminine gata, feminine plural gatas)

1. cat (unspecified gender)

   Synonyms: felino, félido

   Hyponyms: azul ruso, Gato de Cheshire, gato montés, gato persa, gato atigrado, gato colorado, gato exótico (“Exotic Shorthair”), siamés, devon rex (“Devon Rex”), korat (“Korat”), cartujo (“Chartreux”), gato de Van (“Turkish van”), abisinio (“Abyssinian cat”), Manx, gato Manx, gato de Borneo, gato del desierto, gato Bombay (“Bombay cat”), gato común europeo (“European shorthair”), rex alemán (“German Rex”), gato himalayo (“Himalayan cat”), bosque de Noruega (“Norwegian forest cat”)

2. tomcat, gib (male cat)
3. (Mexico) servant

   Synonyms: achichincle, servidor, sirviente, mozo, criado

4. C-clamp
5. jack (mechanical device)
6. (Mexico) tic-tac-toe

   Synonym: tres en línea

7. (colloquial) Madrilenian (a person from Madrid)

   Synonym: madrileño

8. (Costa Rica) person with blue or green eyes

Derived terms

• arena para gato
• atar el gato
• buscarle tres pies al gato
• cuando el gato no está los ratones están de fiesta
• cuatro gatos
• dar gato por liebre
• de noche todos los gatos son pardos
• escala de gato
• gatear
• gatillo
• gatito
• gato de agua
• gato de algalia
• gato de espinas
• gato de monte
• gato escaldado del agua fría huye
• gato himalayo
• gato marino
• gato pescador
• gato salvaje
• gato siamés
• gato solo
• gato tigre
• gatuno
• haber gato encerrado
• hasta el gato
• hasta los gatos
• hierba de gato
• juego de gato y ratón
• la curiosidad mató al gato
• lengua de gato
• llevarse como el perro y el gato
• llevarse el gato al agua
• mano de gato
• menta de gato
• ojo de gato
• oreja de gato
• para el gato
• pelagatos
• pelo de gato
• pie de gato
• ponerle el cascabel al gato
• rabo de gato
• sacar el ascua con la mano del gato
• sopas de gato
• tabaraste gato
• uña de gato
• uva de gato
• vender gato por liebre

Related terms

• gata

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French gâteau.

Noun

gato m (plural gatos)

1. (Costa Rica) rectangular cake made of two layers joined by jam in the middle

Etymology 3

Back-formation from gatillar.

Noun

gato m (plural gatos)

1. (obsolete, slang, Argentina) whoremonger
2. (vulgar, slang, Argentina) a prostitute woman

Further reading

• “gato”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Anagrams

• gota, toga

Venetan

Dei gati

Alternative forms

• gat (Dialectal)

Etymology

From Late Latin cattus (“cat”). See the etymology at cat for further details.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.to/
• Hyphenation: gàto

Noun

gato m (plural gati)

1. cat (Felis silvestris catus, a domesticated feline commonly kept as a house pet)

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡatɔ/

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• gadawo

Verb

gato

1. (literary) third-person singular subjunctive of gadael

Mutation

Mutated forms of gato

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
gato	ato	ngato	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Etymology 2

Verb

gato

1. soft mutation of cato

Mutation

Mutated forms of cato

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
cato	gato	nghato	chato

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.