बिल्ली

See also: बिल्ला and बुल्ला

Hindi

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit [Term?], from Sanskrit बिदालिका (bidālikā), a diminutive form of Sanskrit बिडाल (biḍāla, “cat; eyeball”), from Dravidian. Cognate with Punjabi بِلَّا / ਬਿੱਲਾ (billā).

बिल्ली • (billī) f (masculine बिल्ला, Urdu spelling بلی)

cat (of any gender)
मेरी बिल्ली पूरे दिन सोती है ― merī billī pūre din sotī hai ― My cat sleeps all day
female cat

Although this word is feminine and used for female cats, it is also used to mean domestic cat in general. The masculine form, or the word for tomcat, is बिल्ला (billā).

Declension of बिल्ली (fem ī-stem)

McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “बिल्ली”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
Platts, John T. (1884) “बिल्ली”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
“बिल्ली”, in Collins Gem Hindi-English Dictionary, Collins, 2011, →ISBN
Dāsa, Śyāmasundara (1965–1975) “बिल्ली”, in Hindī Śabdasāgara [lit. Sea of Hindi words] (in Hindi), Kashi [Varanasi]: Nagari Pracarini Sabha
Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “billī”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press
Caturvedi, Mahendra, Bhola Nath Tiwari (1970) “बिल्ली”, in A practical Hindi-English dictionary, Delhi: National Publishing House
Bahri, Hardev (1989) “बिल्ली”, in Siksarthi Hindi-Angrejhi Sabdakosa [Learners' Hindi-English Dictionary], Delhi: Rajpal & Sons.