How to Say "Meow" in Portuguese

miau

/miˈaw/

The Portuguese word for "meow" is miau.

miau is the most common way to say "meow" in Portuguese and is used as an onomatopoeia to represent the sound a cat makes.

Meaning: cry of a cat (intj)

Which one should you use?

Use miau to represent the sound itself, whereas miar is the verb used to describe the action of a cat meowing.

In Brazil, the expression Miau Miau is commonly used to imitate a cat's sound.

The verb for the action of a cat meowing is miar, and the noun used to describe the sound itself is miado.

/miˈaw/

Doubling the term to create miaumiau is a playful, informal way to imitate a cat's sound.

The verb miar is occasionally used metaphorically to describe someone who is whining or complaining in a high-pitched, annoying tone.
In many Portuguese-speaking households, instead of using the verb miar, people might use the expression fazer miau to describe a cat making its sound.
Because it is an onomatopoeia, the spelling of miau can occasionally vary in informal digital chats to miu or even miau miau to mimic the rhythm of a real cat.

O gato faz "miau".
The cat says "meow".
This sentence shows how to use miau to describe what a cat says.
Tatoeba #8871776 by lucasmg123, translation #2839724 by AlanF_US
A vaca faz "muu" e o gato faz "miau".
The cow goes "moo" and the cat goes "meow."
This sentence compares the sounds of a cow and a cat using miau.
Tatoeba #11890906 by ajdavidl, translation #5033420 by scheherezhad
Miau.
Meow.
This sentence shows miau used as a standalone exclamation.
Tatoeba #4721697 by anthrax26, translation #2176411 by dafp
2 more sentences on Tatoeba

Felipe and Camila are at home with a new kitten.

Sources

Wiktionary, “meow” translations and entries miau, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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