tabby

tab·by

Use tabby in a sentence

tabby

noun

pl. -·bies

a silk taffeta with stripes or wavy markings; watered silk
a light-colored cat with darker stripes, sometimes of another color
any domestic cat, esp. a female
Brit., Informal
1. an old maid
2. a malicious woman gossip

Origin of tabby

French tabis, earlier atabis from Medieval Latin attabi from Arabic al-?att?b?ya from ?att?b?, the quarter of Baghdad where it was manufactured: after a prince ?Att?b, of the Omayyad dynasty

made of, or like, tabby
having dark stripes over gray or brown; brindled

transitive verb

-·bied, -·by·ing

to make wavy markings in (silk, etc.)

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MLA Style

"tabby." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/tabby>.

APA Style

tabby. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/tabby

tabby

noun

pl. tab·bies

A rich watered silk.
A fabric of plain weave.
a. A domestic cat with a coat that has stripes or swirls of darker fur on a lighter background.
b. A domestic cat, especially a female.
A spinster.
A prying woman; a gossip.
South Atlantic US A mixture of oyster shells, lime, sand, and water used as a building material.

adjective

Having light and dark striped or swirled markings: a Maine coon with a tabby pattern.
Made of or resembling watered silk.

Origin of tabby

French tabis from Old French atabis from Medieval Latin attabī from Arabic 'attābī after al-'Attābīya , a suburb of Baghdad, Iraq

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"tabby." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/tabby>.

APA Style

tabby. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/tabby

Noun

(countable and uncountable, plural tabbies)

(uncountable) A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering.
(uncountable) A mixture of lime with shells, gravel, or stones, in equal proportions, with an equal proportion of water. When dry, this becomes as hard as rock.
(countable) A brindled cat
(countable, archaic) An old maid or gossip.

Adjective

(not comparable)

Having a wavy or watered appearance; as, a tabby waistcoat.
Brindled; diversified in color; as, a tabby cat.

Origin

Mid 17th circa French atabis, from Arabic attabi, ultimately from Arabic al-Attabiya, the name of a section of Baghdad, Iraq, which is associated with the manufacture of a certain type of waved silk; see also taffeta, another type of silk whose name derives from the Persian (tÃ¢fta, “woven cloth") and shares a similar etymological origin.

Proper noun