cat
/kʰaʰt̪/masculine
The Gaelic word for cat is cat.
The word cat refers to the domestic species.
Meaning: domestic species (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun cat is masculine. To form the plural, use cait. When you want to say 'the cat', you must use the definite article an before the noun, resulting in an cat.
How do you pronounce it?
/kʰaʰt̪/
Did you know?
- In Gaelic culture, cats are often associated with the supernatural and were historically believed to be protectors of the hearth.
- The word cat was borrowed from the Late Latin word cattus.
- The phonetic sound /kʰaʰt̪/ uses a voiceless aspirated stop, which sounds distinct from the English 'cat' to a trained ear.
Examples in context
- Tha cat geal aice.She has a white cat.Tatoeba #1515504 by Cainntear, translation #813309 by papabear
- Cha shoirbh triubhas a chur air cat.It's not easy to put breeches on a cat.Tatoeba #5745698 by Catriona, translation #5745699 by Catriona
- Tha cat is cù agam. Tha an cat dubh agus tha an cù geal.I have a cat and a dog. The cat is black and the dog is white.Tatoeba #1526225 by Cainntear, translation #255347 by kebukebu
- Bha cat anns an taigh sin.There was a cat in that house.
Example conversation
Callum and Isla are talking about their pets.
- CallumA bheil cat agad, a Isla?Do you have a cat, Isla?
- IslaCha beith, ach tha cat agam an an Meanwhile.No, but I have a cat in the neighborhood.
- CallumIs toil leam cat a bhith an seo.I would like a cat to be here.
- IslaTha an cat seo gu math lùgdaire.This cat is very playful.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cat” translations and entries cat, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cat, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
