Miaow
/miˈaʊ/noun
A cat’s meowing sound or the act of making that sound.
Did you know?Miaow is an imitative word, but its spelling reflects a long history of English trying to trap animal sounds in letters—proof that language often begins as raw vocal magic.
Etymological Timeline
19th Century
English
miaow
“An onomatopoeic spelling of a cat’s cry in English”
19th Century
French
miaou
“The cry of a cat”
19th Century
German
miau
“The cry of a cat”
Old English
English
mew
“The cry of a cat or bird”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*meue-
“An imitative base associated with making cat-like or bird-like cries”