English
Etymology
From the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Japanese onomatopoeia にゃお (nyao, “meow, miaow”).
Interjection
nyao
- (chiefly anime and manga fandom) The cry of a cat.
1994 December 13, Mark Maestas, “Dream Tournament 3: Round 1 Results, Part 2”, in rec.games.video.arcade[1] (Usenet):Scorpion's body dropped to the ground as Felicia turned back into a cat. With a barely audible "nyao," she then began to lick and clean herself off.
1997 August 16, Terra, “[XOver] [FanFic] Star98 - Episode 2: The Lost Senshi”, in rec.arts.anime.fandom[2] (Usenet):Luna looked at me with a very skeptical face, "Nyao?!"
It must have been a cat's way of saying, 'You've got to be kidding!'
2001 March 25, Aylakitty [username], “Re: If AFD was a family...”, in alt.fan.digimon[3] (Usenet):I'd Be The Family Kitty Cat! Nyao! Heehee! :::lies down on a rug and purrs:::
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:nyao.
Synonyms
Anagrams