puss
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Probably from Middle Low German pūs, pūskatte or Dutch poes (“puss, cat”, slang for “vulva”), ultimately from a common Germanic word for cat, perhaps ultimately imitative of a sound made to get its attention (compare Arabic بسة (bissa)).
Akin to West Frisian poes, Low German Puus, Puuskatte, Danish pus, dialectal Swedish kattepus, Norwegian pus.
Found also in several other European, North African and Asian languages; compare Romanian pisică, Persian پیشی (piši), Tamil பூசை (pūcai), Tagalog pusa and Sardinian pisittu.
puss (countable and uncountable, plural pusses)
Of Celtic origin, from or akin to Irish pus (“mouth, lip”), from Middle Irish bus.
puss (plural pusses)
puss (uncountable)
From pusse (“to clean, polish, plaster, render”).
puss m (definite singular pussen, indefinite plural pusser, definite plural pussene)
From Middle Low German putze, pusse, posse. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to hit”), likely in part through Old French boce (“bump”). Compare German Posse, Dutch poets.
puss n (definite singular pusset, indefinite plural puss, definite plural pussa or pussene)
From pusse (“to clean, polish, plaster, render”).
puss m (definite singular pussen, indefinite plural pussar, definite plural pussane)
From Middle Low German putze, pusse, posse. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to hit”), likely in part through Old French boce (“bump”). Compare German Posse, Dutch poets.
puss n (definite singular pusset, indefinite plural puss, definite plural pussa)
Disputed origin. Likely onomatopoeic.
puss c
Doublet of pussig, pusta, påse, pösa, and pysa. One theory is that it was borrowed from German Pfütze.
puss c