tabby

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See also: Tabby

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈtæb.i/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -æbi

Noun[edit]

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.
  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[edit]

Translations[edit]

Adjective[edit]

tabby (comparative tabbier, superlative tabbiest)

  1. Having a wavy or watered appearance.
    a tabby waistcoat
  2. Brindled; diversified in color.
    a tabby cat

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

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[edit]

Anagrams[edit]