猫
Meaning in Englishcat
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Word context
What it means
猫 (neko) means 'cat' — the common word for the small domesticated feline species in Japanese, used to refer to individual pet cats and cats in general; it denotes the animal as a member of the cat family and is used in everyday speech to identify, describe, or talk about cats.
Main meanings
- Figurative: used to describe a person with catlike traits such as independence, curiosity, or slipperiness.
- Collective/biological: can refer broadly to felines or the cat family in scientific or descriptive contexts.
- Nickname/term of endearment: used affectionately for people or characters, often with diminutive suffixes.
- Appears in idioms and proverbs with extended meanings (see usage for examples).
How to use it
Used across spoken and written Japanese in casual and formal contexts to name the animal, appear in compound words and idioms, and as affectionate nicknames; in conversation you might hear diminutives like 猫ちゃん (neko-chan), in idioms such as 猫を被る (neko o kaburu) meaning to feign innocence, and in compounds like 猫背 (nekoze) meaning a rounded, 'cat-like' posture.
Variants and close terms
- 子猫 (koneko) - kitten
- 猫科 (nekoka) - the cat family (Felidae)
- 猫ちゃん (neko-chan) - affectionate/diminutive form of cat
- 犬 (inu) - dog (common counterpart/contrast)
Composition
The kanji 猫 combines the animal/dog radical 犭 indicating a mammal or beast, with the component 苗 (nae), which functions primarily as a phonetic element rather than its literal meaning 'seedling'; together they form the character used for 'cat'.
Etymology
猫 (neko) is a native Japonic word attested in Old Japanese sources; its pronunciation has been remarkably stable within Japanese, and the term is considered indigenous rather than a recent loanword, though its ultimate older-root origin remains uncertain.
Origin
Cats were introduced to the Japanese archipelago from continental Asia in early historical periods and are documented in texts and art by the Nara–Heian era (8th–10th centuries); historically they were valued for controlling rodents in granaries and gradually became companions and literary motifs among different social classes.
Word class
noun (common noun) (名詞, meishi)