slang for "cunt," 1879, but probably older; perhaps from O.N.
puss "pocket, pouch" (cf. Low Ger.
puse "vulva"), but perhaps instead from the cat word (see
pussy (1)) on notion of "soft, warm, furry thing;" cf. Fr.
le chat, which also has a double meaning, feline and genital. Earlier uses are difficult to distinguish from
pussy (1), e.g.:
"The word pussie is now used of a woman" [Philip Stubbes, "The Anatomie of Abuses," 1583]
But the use of
pussy as a term of endearment argues against the vaginal sense being generally known before late 19c., e.g.:
" 'What do you think, pussy?' said her father to Eva." [Harriet Beecher Stowe, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," 1852]
Pussy-whipped first attested 1956.
[poo
s-ee] 
