ཞི་མི
zhi mi
The Tibetan word for cat is ཞི་མི (zhi mi).
The word ཞི་མི refers to the domestic species of cat.
Meaning: domestic species (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is zhi mi.
Did you know?
- The word ཞི་མི may be a distant relative of the Old Chinese word for 'raccoon dog' or 'wild cat', suggesting the term for domestic cats in Tibet shares ancient roots with words for similar creatures across the region.
- In some traditional Tibetan contexts, animals like the cat are viewed through the lens of karma and reincarnation, influencing how people interact with them.
- Tibetan folklore includes stories of 'snow lions', mythical creatures that share some physical characteristics with large cats but are symbols of fearlessness.
Example sentences for Tibetan are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cat” translations and entries ཞི་མི, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ཞི་མི, CC BY-SA 4.0.
