Meow
/miˈaʊ/noun
A cat’s characteristic vocal sound; to make that sound.
Did you know?Unlike words with deep ritual or occult histories, meow is a pure onomatopoeia: its power comes from imitation, not borrowed magic.
Etymological Timeline
Prehistory
Proto-echoic
*miaw / *miau
“An imitated cat sound, reconstructed from human attempts to mimic feline vocalization”
Middle English
English
mewen
“To cry or mew like a cat”
16th Century
English
meow
“A cat’s cry, especially as represented in writing”
19th Century
English
miaow
“A common spelling variant of the cat’s cry”
Modern English
English
meow
“The standard written form for a cat’s vocal sound”