catnip

catnip

See also: cat-nip and cat nip

English

Nepeta cataria flowers

Etymology

Compound of cat +‎ Middle English nep, from Old English nepte, from Latin nepeta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkatnɪp/

Noun

catnip (countable and uncountable, plural catnips)

1. Any of the about 250 species of flowering plant of the genus Nepeta, family Lamiaceae, certain of which are said to have medicinal qualities.

   Synonyms: catmint, catwort

2. Nepeta cataria and Nepeta grandiflora (and perhaps other species), which are well-known for causing an apparently harmless pheromone-based intoxication among certain cats.

   Coordinate term: silver vine

   Some cats go bonkers over catnip; others ignore it.

   • 2021 January 20, Sofia Moutinho, “Why cats are crazy for catnip”, in Science‎, DOI:doi:10.1126/science.abg6551:

     But exactly how catnip—and a substitute, known as silver vine—produce this feline high has long been a mystery. Now, a study suggests the key intoxicating chemicals in the plants activate cats’ opioid systems much like heroin and morphine do in people.

3. (figurative) Something that causes excitement or interest.
   • 2015 April 2, James Somers, “Toolkits for the Mind”, in MIT Technology Review‎:

     The language [OCaml]’s rigor is like catnip to some people, though, giving Jane Street an unusual advantage in the tight hiring market for programmers.

   • 2016 October 24, Owen Gibson, “Is the unthinkable happening – are people finally switching the football off?”, in The Guardian‎, London:

     Since Rupert Murdoch famously bet the farm on Premier League football to rescue Sky TV in 1991, it has been the catnip that has underpinned subscriber loyalty and, even in a far more complicated media landscape, is seen as so vital as to be worth almost any price.

   • 2017 May 31, David Z. Morris, “The Rise of Cryptocurrency Ponzi Schemes”, in The Atlantic‎:

     Unlike IPOs, however, ICOs are catnip for scammers.

   • 2019 September 14, Elizabeth Paton, “A Fashion/Food Blowout in the Shadow of Brexit”, in New York Times‎:

     This hot new Shoreditch trattoria already is catnip for the style set.

Translations

plant of the genus Nepeta

Armenian: կատվադաղձ (hy) (katvadałj) Azerbaijani: pişiknanəsi Belarusian: кацямятка (kacjamjatka) Catalan: herba gatera f Chinese: Mandarin: 貓薄荷／猫薄荷 (māobòhé) Danish: katteurt Dutch: kattenkruid (nl) n, Nepeta Esperanto: katherbo, katmento Finnish: kissanminttu (fi) Georgian: კატაპიტნა (ḳaṭaṗiṭna) German: Katzenminze (de) f Greek: Ancient: νέπετος m (népetos), καλαμίνθη f (kalamínthē) Hungarian: macskamenta (hu) Icelandic: kattarminta f Irish: mismín cait, miontas cait m Japanese: イヌハッカ属 (inuhakkazoku) Kazakh: көкжалбыз (kökjalbyz) Latin: nepeta f Lithuanian: katžolė Macedonian: мачкино нане n (mačkino nane), непе́та f (nepéta) Norwegian: kattemynter Old English: nepte f, *cattes minte f Persian: پونه‌سا‎ Polish: kocimiętka (pl) Portuguese: erva-de-gato f, nêbeda f Romanian: iarba-mâței f, cătușnică (ro) f Russian: коша́чья мя́та f (košáčʹja mjáta) Slovene: máčja méta f Spanish: menta de gato f, nébeda f, hierba gatera f Swedish: nepetasläktet Ukrainian: кото́вник (kotóvnyk) Welsh: mint y gath m

specific species which causes intoxication among cats

Azerbaijani: adi pişiknanəsi Bulgarian: коча трева (koča treva) Catalan: herba gatera, nepta Chinese: Mandarin: 貓薄荷／猫薄荷 (māobòhé) Chuvash: кушак пӳсĕр курăкĕ (kuš̬ak püsĕr k̬urăkĕ) Czech: šanta kočičí (cs) Danish: almindelig katteurt, katteurt Dutch: kattenkruid (nl) n, wild kattenkruid Esperanto: katario, katherbo, katmento Finnish: aitokissanminttu (fi) (Nepeta cataria); kollinminttu, isokissanminttu (Nepeta grandiflora) French: cataire (fr) f, chataire (fr) f, herbe à chat (fr) f Galician: herba gateira (gl) German: Katzenminze (de) f, Echte Katzenminze Greek: Ancient: νέπετος m (népetos), καλαμίνθη f (kalamínthē) Hungarian: illatos macskamenta (hu) Japanese: イヌハッカ (inuhakka) Korean: 개박하 (gaebakha) Lithuanian: paprastoji katžolė Macedonian: мачкино нане n (mačkino nane) Norwegian: kattemynte Persian: نعناع گربه‌ای‎ Picard: iérpe-éd-cat Polish: kocimiętka właściwa Portuguese: erva-de-gato f Romanian: iarba-mâței f, cătușnică (ro) f Russian: кото́вник коша́чий (kotóvnik košáčij), коша́чья мя́та (košáčʹja mjáta) Serbo-Croatian: macina trava, mačija trava, mačija metvica, macina metvica, potplotuša Slovak: kocúrnik obyčajný Slovene: mačja meta Sorbian: Upper Sorbian: prawy kocornik Spanish: menta de gato, menta gatuna, albahaca de gatos, gatera (es), gataria, nébeda Swedish: kattmynta (sv) c Vietnamese: bạc hà mèo, cỏ mèo Welsh: mintys y gath

something that causes excitement or interest

German: eine Unwiderstehlichkeit f, ein gefundenes Fressen n, Zugpferd (de) n, ein Objekt der Begierde n, eine Faszination f

Further reading

• catnip on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Nepeta on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• “catnip”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• pancit

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Spanish

Noun

catnip m (plural catnips)

1. catnip

   Synonyms: nébeda, menta de gato

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