猫 meaning in English

māo

cat (CL:隻|只[zhi1]); (dialect) to hide oneself

HSK 2nounTraditional 貓11 strokes

Meaning of 猫

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

māo

cat (CL:隻|只[zhi1])
(dialect) to hide oneself
(loanword) (coll.) modem

máo

used in 貓腰|猫腰[mao2 yao1]

How to use 猫

猫 is the everyday word for cat, and its measure word is 只 (zhī). It also appears in many animal names, such as 熊猫 (xióngmāo) panda and 猫头鹰 (māotóuyīng) owl. Example: 我家有一只猫。(Wǒ jiā yǒu yì zhī māo.) My family has a cat.

猫 (māo) has the animal side 犭 on the left and 苗 (miáo) on the right. Picture an animal hiding in young sprouts 苗 and saying "miao", which sounds just like 猫.

Common mistake: Learners often use 个 (gè) as the measure word, but 一只猫 (yì zhī māo) is the natural choice. Also do not confuse the right side 苗 with 笛 or 由. 猫 uses the grass top 艹 over 田.

猫 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

她tā有yǒu一yī只zhī猫māo。那nà只zhǐ猫māo是shì白bái色sè的de。

She has a cat. The cat is white.

我wǒ的de猫māo不bú会huì讲jiǎng西xī班bān牙yá语yǔ。

My cat doesn't speak Spanish.

“我wǒ不bù能néng抓zhuā我wǒ的de主zhǔ人rén。”猫māo说shuō。

"I cannot claw my owner", said the cat.

他tā给gěi他tā的de猫māo喂wèi了le些xiē牛niú奶nǎi。

He gave his cat some milk.

汤tāng姆mǔ的de猫māo把bǎ玛mǎ丽lì的de狗gǒu吓xià到dào了le。

Tom's cat scared Mary's dog.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

猫 māo · cat · 11 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 猫.

大熊猫	dàxióngmāo	giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
小猫	xiǎomāo	kitten
猫咪	māomī	kitty (affectionate term for a cat)
熊猫	xióngmāo	panda
猫头鹰	māotóuyīng	owl
野猫	yěmāo	wildcat; feral cat; stray cat
狸猫	límāo	leopard cat; (literary) various small wild mammals (including raccoon dog, civet, wildcat)
躲猫猫	duǒmāomāo	hide-and-seek (game); peekaboo (game)
夜猫子	yèmāozi	owl; (fig.) night owl

Questions about 猫

What does 猫 mean?

猫 (māo) means "cat (CL:隻|只[zhi1]); (dialect) to hide oneself" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 猫?

猫 is made of 1 character: 猫 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.

Is 猫 an HSK word?

Yes. 猫 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 猫 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 猫 is written 貓.

Why does 熊猫 (panda) contain the character for cat?

熊猫 literally means "bear cat". 猫 here is just part of the name and does not mean a panda is a kind of cat. The same goes for 猫头鹰 (owl), literally "cat head eagle", named for its cat-like face.

Is 猫 ever pronounced máo?

Yes, but only in a few words like 猫腰 (máoyāo), meaning to bend at the waist or crouch. In normal use, including the word for cat, it is always first tone māo.