meow

meow

English

Alternative forms

• miaow, miaou (British)
• meaw, meeow (obsolete)

Etymology

Onomatopoeic, with some spellings modelled on French miaou. Meow and its spelling variants entered widespread currency in the 19th century, mostly replacing earlier mew, possibly as phonetic change meant that word had ceased to approximate a cat's cry (note the pronunciation of Middle English mewen /ˈmɛu̯ən/ compared to modern /ˈmjuː/).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /miˈaʊ̯/, /mjaʊ̯/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊ

Interjection

meow

1. The cry of a cat.

   Synonym: (anime and manga fandom) nyao

2. Said in reply to a spiteful or catty comment.
3. Said to denote seductiveness, mimicking a growl.

Translations

cry of a cat

Bashkir: мыяу (mıyaw) Belarusian: мяў (mjaŭ), мяу (mjau) Bikol Central: ngiyaw Catalan: mèu (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 喵 (miu1) Mandarin: 喵 (zh) (miāo), 咪咪 (zh) (mīmī) Czech: mňau (cs) Danish: mjav (da), miav Dutch: miauw (nl) Dzongkha: སྨེ (sme) Esperanto: miaŭ (eo) Estonian: mäu (et), näu, mjäu, njäu Faroese: mjarr, mjavv Finnish: miau (fi), mau (fi) French: miaou (fr) Galician: miau (gl) German: miau (de), maunz (de) Greek: νιάου (el) (niáou) Hebrew: מיאו‎ Hindi: म्याऊँ (myāū̃) Hungarian: miau (hu) Icelandic: mjá (is) Indonesian: meong (id) Interlingua: miau Irish: míáú Italian: miao (it) Japanese: ニャー (nyā), ニャン (nyan) Jarai: meo Kannada: ಮಿಯಾವ್ (miyāv) Kazakh: мияу (miäu) Khmer: ង៉ាវៗ (ŋaav-ŋaav) Korean: 야옹 (ko) (yaong) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: میاو‎ (myaw) Lao: ເໝີວຍາ (miao) Latgalian: ņau Latin: miau Latvian: ņau, mjau Lithuanian: miau (lt) Luxembourgish: miau Malay: ngeong, miau, ngiau Mongolian: мяу (mjau) Nepali: म्याउ (myāu) Northern Thai: ᩉ᩠ᨾᩢ᩠ᨿ᩠ᩅ Norwegian: mjau (no) Persian: میو‎ (miyu) Polish: miau (pl) Portuguese: miau (pt) Romanian: miau (ro), miorlau (ro) Russian: мя́у (ru) (mjáu) Scottish Gaelic: miamha Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: мјау, мњау Roman: mjau, mnjau Slovak: mňau Slovene: mjav Spanish: miau (es), ñau (es), ñew m Swedish: mjau (sv) Tagalog: ingaw, ngiyaw Tamil: மியாவ் (miyāv) Telugu: మ్యావ్ (myāv) Thai: เหมียว (th) (mǐao) Turkish: miyav (tr) Ukrainian: няв (njav) Vietnamese: ngoao (vi), ngao (vi), meo (vi) Volapük: miov Yiddish: מיאַו‎ (myau)

said in reply to a spiteful comment

Noun

meow (plural meows)

1. The cry of a cat.
   • 1968, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Quinn the Eskimo”:

     A cat’s meow and a cow’s moo, I can recite them all / Just tell me where it hurts you, honey

2. (UK, slang, uncountable) The drug mephedrone.

   Synonyms: drone, meow meow

Derived terms

• cat’s meow
• meowless
• meowlike
• meowy

Translations

cry of a cat

Arabic: مُوَاء‎ (ar) m (muwāʔ) Armenian: մլավոց (hy) (mlavocʿ) Bulgarian: мяу (mjau) Catalan: miol (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 喵 (miu1) Mandarin: 喵 (zh) (miāo), 咪咪 (zh) (mīmī), 貓叫聲／猫叫声 (zh) (māojiàoshēng) Czech: mňoukání (cs) n, zamňoukání n Danish: miav, mjav (da), miau (da) Dutch: miauw (nl), gemiauw (nl) n Esperanto: miaŭo (eo) Estonian: mjäu, näu Faroese: mjarr Finnish: nau’unta (fi), naukuminen (fi), naukuna French: miaou (fr) m, miaulement (fr) m, nyaw f Galician: miau (gl) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: Miau (de) n, Gemiaue n, Gemaunze n, Miauen n Greek: νιαούρισμα (el) n (niaoúrisma) Icelandic: mjálm (is) n Ido: miaulo (io) Indonesian: meong (id) Interlingua: miau Irish: meamhlach f Italian: miao (it) Japanese: にゃ (nya), にゃあ (ja) (nyā), ニャア (nyā) Kapampangan: miyaw, ngeung Korean: 야옹 (ko) (yaong) Latvian: ņaudiens m Lithuanian: miau (lt) Malay: ngeong, ngiau, ngiauan Norwegian: mjau (no) Polish: miauczenie (pl) n, miauk m Portuguese: miado (pt) Quechua: miyaw ñiy Romanian: mieunat (ro) n, miorlăit (ro) n Russian: мяу́кание (ru) n (mjaúkanije) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: мјаукање n, мјаук m Roman: mjaukanje n, mjauk (sh) m Slovak: mňau Slovene: mjavkanje n Spanish: maullido (es) m Swedish: mjau (sv) n, jamande (sv) n Tagalog: ingaw, ngiyaw Turkish: miyav (tr) Vietnamese: meo meo, mèo mèo Volapük: miov Westrobothnian: gjalm n

mephedrone

Hindi: म्याऊं म्याऊं (myāū̃ myāū̃) (slang) Russian: мефедрон (ru) (mefedron)

Verb

meow (third-person singular simple present meows, present participle meowing, simple past and past participle meowed)

1. (intransitive) Of a cat, to make its cry.

Conjugation

Conjugation of meow

infinitive	(to) meow
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	meow	meowed
2nd-person singular	meow, meowest†
3rd-person singular	meows, meoweth†
plural	meow
subjunctive	meow	meowed
imperative	meow	—
participles	meowing	meowed

Synonyms

• mew

Translations

of a cat, to make its cry

Arabic: مَاءَ‎ (ar) (māʔa), تَمَوَّأَ‎ (tamawwaʔa) Armenian: մլավել (hy) (mlavel) Catalan: miolar (ca) Chinese: Cantonese: please add this translation if you can Mandarin: 貓叫／猫叫 (zh), 猫叫 (zh) (māojiào), 咪咪叫 (zh) (mīmī jiào) Crimean Tatar: miyavlamaq Czech: mňoukat (cs) impf, mňouknout pf Dutch: miauwen (nl) Esperanto: miaŭi (eo) Estonian: näuguma, kräunuma Faroese: mjarra, mjavma, mjavva, mjóma Finnish: naukua (fi) French: miauler (fr) Galician: miañar (gl) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: miauen (de), maunzen (de), mauzen Greek: νιαουρίζω (el) (niaourízo) Hungarian: nyávog (hu) Icelandic: mjálma Ido: miaular (io) Interlingua: miaular Italian: miagolare (it) Japanese: にゃあと鳴く (にゃあとなく, nyā to naku), 鳴く (ja) (なく, naku) Kapampangan: magmiyaw, magngeung Kazakh: мияулау (miäulau) Korean: 야옹하다 (yaonghada) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: میاواندن‎ (myawandin) Latin: felio, maumo Latvian: ņaudēt Lithuanian: miauksėti Malay: please add this translation if you can Norman: miaûner, vioûler Norwegian: mjaue (no) Polish: miauczeć (pl) Portuguese: miar (pt) Romanian: mieuna (ro), miorlăi (ro) Russian: мяу́кать (ru) impf (mjaúkatʹ), мяу́кнуть (ru) pf (mjaúknutʹ) (semelfactive) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: мјаукати, мјаукнути Roman: mjaukati (sh), mjauknuti (sh) Slovak: mňaukať Slovene: mjavkati Spanish: maullar (es), hacer miau, miagar (es) (Cantabria) Swedish: jama (sv) Tagalog: umingaw, ngumiyaw Turkish: miyavlamak (tr) Turkmen: mawlamak Uzbek: miyovlamoq (uz) Volapük: miovön (vo) Westrobothnian: gjalm