puss
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Probably from Middle Low German pūs, pūskatte or Dutch poes (“puss, cat”, slang for “vulva”), ultimately from a common Germanic word for cat, perhaps ultimately imitative of a sound made to get its attention (compare Arabic بسة (bissa)).
Akin to West Frisian poes, Low German Puus, Puuskatte, Danish pus, dialectal Swedish kattepus, Norwegian pus.
Found also in several other European, North African and Asian languages; compare Romanian pisică, Persian پیشی (piši), Tamil பூசை (pūcai), Tagalog pusa and Sardinian pisittu.
Noun[edit]
puss (countable and uncountable, plural pusses)
- (informal, often as a term of address) A cat.
- Our local theatre is showing Puss in Boots.
- Come here, puss! I've got some milk for you.
- (dated, endearing) A girl or young woman, or any child.
- (dated, hunting) A hare.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
- He then began to beat about, in the same language and in the same manner as if he had been beating for a hare; and at last cried out, "Soho! Puss is not far off. Here's her form, upon my soul; I believe I may cry stole away."
- 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 77:
- 'It won't kill Puss any better for that.' 'But, goodness gracious, what can that hare be made of?' I asked.
- (vulgar, slang) The vulva (female genitalia).
- (uncountable, vulgar, slang, metonymically) Sex with a woman.
- 1986, Tim Kazurinsky, Denise DeClue, About Last Night, spoken by Bernie (Jim Belushi):
- So don't know! So, what are you gonna do? Sell your birthright for a little bit of puss?
- (vulgar, slang, chiefly Canada, US) A coward; a wuss; someone who is unable to stand up for themself.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Of Celtic origin, from or akin to Irish pus (“mouth, lip”), from Middle Irish bus.
Noun[edit]
puss (plural pusses)
- (slang) The mouth.
- Shut your puss before I shut it for you.
- 1991, New York Magazine, volume 24, number 21, page 62:
- Hubbert has a rasping voice and a razory laugh, and he's busy and theatrical in the worst way — a noisy performing pro with whirlwind arms and a saturnine puss.
- (slang) The face.
- She gave him a slap in the puss.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Etymology 3[edit]
Noun[edit]
puss (uncountable)
- Alternative spelling of pus
- 2010 Alien Purgatory page 40
- It didn't move as much, and the same teary puss leaked from its eyes.
- 2012 Southern Supposition page 132
- People called him Puss Head because if you crossed him, he went to great lengths to make sure that before you died, puss leaked from your head.
- 2016 When Crickets Cry page 267
- Puss leaked out from beneath white gauze on his back and trickled down his spine.
- 2010 Alien Purgatory page 40
References[edit]
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
Anagrams[edit]
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From pusse (“to clean, polish, plaster, render”).
Noun[edit]
puss m (definite singular pussen, indefinite plural pusser, definite plural pussene)
- polish, finery
- (a layer of) plaster (mortar), plastering
- finery
Etymology 2[edit]
Noun[edit]
puss m or n (definite singular pussen or pusset)
Etymology 3[edit]
Apparently from Dutch Low Saxon or German Low German.
New High German Possen (“coarse prank”), although superficially similar, derives via Middle High German from Old French, and is therefore probably unrelated.
Noun[edit]
puss n (definite singular pusset, indefinite plural puss, definite plural pussa or pussene)
References[edit]
- “puss” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From pusse (“to clean, polish, plaster, render”).
Noun[edit]
puss m (definite singular pussen, indefinite plural pussar, definite plural pussane)
- polish, finery
- (a layer of) plaster (mortar), plastering
- finery
Etymology 2[edit]
Noun[edit]
puss m or n (definite singular pussen or pusset)
Etymology 3[edit]
Apparently from Dutch Low Saxon or German Low German.
New High German Possen (“coarse prank”), although superficially similar, derives via Middle High German from Old French, and is therefore probably unrelated.
Noun[edit]
puss n (definite singular pusset, indefinite plural puss, definite plural pussa)
References[edit]
- “puss” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swedish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Disputed origin. Likely onomatopoeic.
Noun[edit]
puss c
- Peck; a light or dispassionate kiss performed with closed lips, used for example as a greeting or in non-sensual/non-sexual contexts.
Declension[edit]
Declension of puss | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | puss | pussen | pussar | pussarna |
Genitive | puss | pussens | pussars | pussarnas |
Related terms[edit]
See also[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Doublet of pussig, pusta, påse, pösa, and pysa. One theory is that it was borrowed from German Pfütze.
Noun[edit]
puss c
Declension[edit]
Declension of puss | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | puss | pussen | pussar | pussarna |
Genitive | puss | pussens | pussars | pussarnas |
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- puss in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
- puss in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
Anagrams[edit]
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ʊs
- Rhymes:English/ʊs/1 syllable
- English terms derived from Middle Low German
- English terms derived from Dutch
- English terms derived from Germanic languages
- English onomatopoeias
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English informal terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English dated terms
- English endearing terms
- en:Hunting
- English terms with quotations
- English vulgarities
- English slang
- English metonyms
- Canadian English
- American English
- English terms derived from Celtic languages
- English terms derived from Irish
- English terms derived from Middle Irish
- en:Cats
- en:Genitalia
- en:Hares
- en:People
- en:Sex
- Norwegian Bokmål terms with IPA pronunciation
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Bokmål neuter nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns with multiple genders
- nb:Pathology
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Dutch Low Saxon
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from German Low German
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Middle High German
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Old French
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Nynorsk neuter nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns with multiple genders
- nn:Pathology
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Dutch Low Saxon
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from German Low German
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Middle High German
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Old French
- Swedish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Swedish terms with audio links
- Swedish onomatopoeias
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- Swedish doublets
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