Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗Of a cat, to make its cry.
Used to indicate the cry of a cat. · Used in reply to a spiteful or catty comment. · Used to express seductiveness, mimicking a growl.
The cry of a cat. · The drug mephedrone.
Alteration of earlier mew, from Middle English mewen, mouwen (“to mew, meow”), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Saterland Frisian mauje, miauje (“to meow”), West Frisian miaukje (“to meow”), Dutch miauwen (“to meow”), Middle Low German mauwen, mawen, mouwen (“to meow”) (whence modern German Low German mauen, miauen (“to meow”)), Middle High German mouen, modern German miauen (“to meow”). Some spellings were modelled on French miaou. Meow and its spelling variants entered widespread currency in the 19th century, mostly replacing mew, possibly because phonetic change meant that word had ceased to approximate a cat's cry (contrast the pronunciation of Middle English mewen /ˈmɛu̯ən/ compared to modern /ˈmjuː/). (mephedrone): Perhaps because of the drug's distinctive smell resembling cat urine.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "mewen"
},
"expansion": "Middle English mewen"
},
{
"name": "onomatopoeic",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "onomatopoeic"
},
{
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},
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},
{
"name": "cog",
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"2": "miaukje",
"t": "to meow"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian miaukje (“to meow”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
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},
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},
{
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},
{
"name": "cog",
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},
"expansion": "German Low German mauen"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"2": "mouen"
},
"expansion": "Middle High German mouen"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "miauen",
"t": "to meow"
},
"expansion": "German miauen (“to meow”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
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"2": "miaou"
},
"expansion": "French miaou"
},
{
"name": "m+",
"args": {
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},
"expansion": "Middle English mewen"
},
{
"name": "sense",
"args": {
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},
"expansion": "(mephedrone):"
}
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[
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[
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"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"Of a cat, to make its cry."
],
"tags": [
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"glosses": [
"Used to indicate the cry of a cat.",
"Used in reply to a spiteful or catty comment.",
"Used to express seductiveness, mimicking a growl."
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"tags": [
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{
"pos": "noun",
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"The drug mephedrone."
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