Nekomimi
/ˌnɛkoʊˈmiːmi/noun
A fictional or costume character featuring cat ears, especially in Japanese popular culture and anime fandom.
Did you know?Nekomimi is a modern compound of ordinary Japanese words, but its imagery connects to the much older folkloric tradition of humans and animals crossing bodily and spiritual boundaries.
Etymological Timeline
Old Japanese
Japanese
neko
“Cat; an old Japanese animal-name whose ultimate origin is uncertain”
Old Japanese
Japanese
mimi
“Ear”
Classical Japanese
Japanese
neko + mimi
“The transparent compound “cat” plus “ear””
20th Century
Japanese
nekomimi
“A cat-eared character or cat-ear motif in manga, anime, and related fan culture”
Late 20th–Early 21st Century
English
nekomimi
“An English fandom loanword for cat-eared fictional characters, costumes, or accessories”