Nearby Words
noun
1.
a cat with a striped or brindled coat.
2.
a domestic cat, especially a female one.
3.
a spinster.
4.
EXPANDa spiteful female gossip or tattler.
6.
COLLAPSEa watered silk fabric, or any other watered material, as moreen.
adjective
7.
striped or brindled.
8.
made of or resembling tabby.
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Tabbying
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
verb (used with object)
9.
to give a wavy or watered appearance to, as silk.
Origin:
1630–40; back formation from French tabis (taken as plural), Middle French (a)tabis silk cloth < Medieval Latin attābi < Arabic ʿattābī, derivative of (al-)ʿAttābīyah, quarter of Baghdad where the silk was first made, literally, the quarter of (Prince) ʿAttāb
1630–40; back formation from French tabis (taken as plural), Middle French (a)tabis silk cloth < Medieval Latin attābi < Arabic ʿattābī, derivative of (al-)ʿAttābīyah, quarter of Baghdad where the silk was first made, literally, the quarter of (Prince) ʿAttāb
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To Tabbying
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
tabby
1638, "striped silk taffeta," from Fr. tabis "a rich, watered silk (originally striped)," from M.Fr. atabis (14c.), from Arabic 'attabiya, from 'Attabiy, a neighborhood of Baghdad where such cloth was first made, named for prince 'Attab of the Omayyad dynasty. Tabby cat, one with a striped coat, is
EXPAND attested from 1695; shortened form tabby first attested 1774. Sense of "female cat" (1826) may be infl. by the fem. proper name Tabby, a pet form of Tabitha, which was used in late 18c. as slang for "difficult old woman."
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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