# Where did the "pussy" in pussycat come from?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pussy-in-pussycat-come-from/173034>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 4, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pussy-in-pussycat-come-from/173034 "2003-05-04T16:11:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pussy-in-pussycat-come-from/173034/1 "2003-05-04T16:11:55Z")

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I believe (if my dictionary is anything to go by) that the word pussy started off a long time ago in old English to mean a pouch or a purse and evolved into it’s more vulgar meaning relatively late. I can see how a word for pouch can turn into a word for female genitalia, but how did cats and willows get involved?

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pussy-in-pussycat-come-from/173034/2 "2003-05-04T16:47:32Z")

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_Puss_ starts off as a “conventional” name for a cat, in print from before 1530. It is most likely a sound that was used to call a cat–i.e. “here, puss, puss!”

It appears as a name for a cat in other Germanic languages, _pus and pus-katte_ in Low German, _puse_ in Norwegian, _poes_ in Dutch.

It shows up in 1726 as _pussy_ , diminutive of _puss_. It shows up even earlier (1605) referring to Dick Whitington and his “pusse.”

The use of “pussycat” appears in print in 1805 in a nursery rhyme–“pussycat, pussycat, where have you been.” No doubt it was a common useage well-before that time.

It probably was turned into pussycat merely to make nursery rhymes flow more smoothly. Sing-songy kind of thing.

My info is from the OED and Chambers.

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**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pussy-in-pussycat-come-from/173034/3 "2003-05-04T16:49:42Z")

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I always figured that pussy was more to do with furryness like ‘beaver’ is now… not purse…

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**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pussy-in-pussycat-come-from/173034/4 "2003-05-04T16:52:47Z")

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Surprisingly Merriam-Webster drew a blank on this one, but my desk dictionary (Collins English) has this:

**puss** (pus) _n._ **1.** an informal name for a **cat**. **2.** _Slang._ a girl or woman. **3.** an informal name for a **hare**. [C16: related to Middle Low German _pûs_, Dutch _poes_, Lithuanian _puz_]

“Pussy” is cross-referenced to that. My WAG would have been imitative (what noise do you call a cat?). Pussy willows get their names from the resemblence of the dangling flower bracts (i.e. catkins) to cats’ tails.

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**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-pussy-in-pussycat-come-from/173034/5 "2003-05-04T17:00:12Z")

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Q. What animal can fly highest?

A. A flight attendant’s pussy.