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tab·by

(tăbē)

n. pl. tab·bies

1. A rich watered silk.

2. 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.

4. A spinster.

5. A prying woman; a gossip.

6. South Atlantic US A mixture of oyster shells, lime, sand, and water used as a building material.

adj.

1. Having light and dark striped or swirled markings: a Maine coon with a tabby pattern.

2. Made of or resembling watered silk.

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

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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