A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1400, 1456-1662
[0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0]
Cat, n.1 Also: catt(e. [ME. catt(e, cat, OE. cat(t, ON. katt-, kǫttr.]
1. A cat. a1400 Legends of the Saints vii. 680.
For nothire wes lewit in that towne hwnde, na catte, … vnhetyne 1456 Hay I. 120/20.
Rycht sa the hund and the wolf, the cat and the mous a1500 Henr. Fab. 326.
In come Gib Hunter, our jolie cat, And bad God speid a1500 Ib. 2002.
Thow wenis to draw the stra befoir the catt c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace x. 809.
Ȝon wood cattis [= leopards] sall do ws litill der c1500-c1512 Dunb. xxxix. 23.
Husbandis that … had … Cattell and corne … Hes now no beist but cattis and myce 1530 Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries II. 391.
The sys ordains that the hangman sell escheit to hymself all swyne, doggs, & cattis at he fyndis one the gait 1540 Lynd. Sat. 468.
Hay! As ane brydlit cat I brank 1567 Satirical Poems iii. 179.
War … I ane cat and sho ane lytill mous a1605 Montg. Flyt. 360.
With warwolfes and wild cates [T. wilcattis] thy weird bee to wander 1624 Misc. Abbotsf. C. 144.
Thomas Logie … meitting ane number of cattis … quhilk vnbesett him, the said Thomas saw ȝour face vpoun ane of [the] cattis 1662 Criminal Trials III. 611.
Quhan we vold be in the shap of cattis, we did nothing but cry and wraw
2. Cattis e, the precious stone ‘cat's-eye,. 1542 Inv. Wardrobe 67.
Item, ane ring with ane cattis E
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Cat n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/cat_n_1>
