English
kitten
Kitten comes from Middle English kitoun.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kitoun
- Englishearliest quotation 1752kitten
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kitoun
- Englishearliest quotation 1752kitten
Earliest quotation: 1752, The London Magazine: “It was supposed to have happened thus: the cat…”
The story
Seemingly from, and usually explained as being from, unattested Anglo-Norman *kitoun, *ketun (compare Old French chitoun, cheton, chaton (‘kitten’), diminutive of cat, chat (‘cat’)); whence Modern French chaton (‘kitten’). Similar words of Germanic origin may have reinforced this word; compare English kitling (‘kit, kitten’), Low German Kitten (‘kitten’), Icelandic kettlingur (‘kitten’), Middle English chitte ("whelp, pup", see chit). The idea that kitoun, rather than being of Anglo-Norman origin, was in fact a purely Germanic derivation from one of these words is etymologically problematic, but cannot be definitively ruled out.
Every English word from Middle English kitoun
Today it means
noun A young cat, especially before sexual maturity (reached at about seven months).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English kitoun / kitten