From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
A pleading cat.
Alteration of earlier mew , from Middle English mewen , mouwen ( “ to mew, meow ” ) , of onomatopoeic origin.
Compare Saterland Frisian mauje , miauje ( “ to meow ” ) , West Frisian miaukje ( “ to meow ” ) , Dutch miauwen ( “ to meow ” ) , Middle Low German mauwen , mawen , mouwen ( “ to meow ” ) (whence modern German Low German mauen , miauen ( “ to meow ” ) ), Middle High German mouen , modern German miauen ( “ to meow ” ) . Some spellings were modelled on French miaou .
Meow and its spelling variants entered widespread currency in the 19th century, mostly replacing mew . Possibly because phonetic change meant that word had ceased to approximate a cat's cry. Contrast the pronunciation of Middle English mewen /ˈmɛu̯ən/ compared to modern /ˈmjuː/ ).
meow
Used to indicate the cry of a cat .
Synonyms: mew , miaow , ( anime and manga fandom ) nya , nyaa , nyan , nyao
( colloquial ) Used in reply to a spiteful or catty comment.
( colloquial ) Used to express seductiveness , mimicking a growl.
cry of a cat
Arabic: مُوَاء (ar) m ( muwāʔ )
Bashkir: мыяу ( mıyaw )
Belarusian: мяў ( mjaŭ ) , мяу ( mjau )
Bengali: ম্যাঁ ( mễ ) , ম্যাঁও ( mễō )
Bikol Central: ngiyaw
Bulgarian: мя́у ( mjáu )
Catalan: mèu (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 喵 ( miu1 )
Mandarin: 喵 (zh) ( miāo ) , 咪咪 (zh) ( mīmī )
Czech: mňau (cs)
Danish: mjav (da) , miav
Dutch: miauw (nl)
Dzongkha: སྨེ ( sme )
Esperanto: miaŭ (eo)
Estonian: mäu (et) , näu , mjäu , njäu
Faroese: mjarr , mjavv
Finnish: miau (fi) , mau (fi)
French: miaou (fr)
Galician: miau (gl)
German: miau (de) , maunz (de)
Greek: νιάου (el) ( niáou )
Hawaiian: ʻoau , ʻowau
Hebrew: מיאו
Hindi: म्याऊँ ( myāū̃ )
Hungarian: miau (hu)
Icelandic: mjá (is)
Indonesian: meong (id)
Interlingua: miau
Irish: míáú
Italian: miao (it)
Japanese: にゃあ (ja) ( nyā ) , にゃん ( nyan )
Jarai: meo
Kabyle: mεiw
Kannada: ಮಿಯಾವ್ ( miyāv )
Kazakh: мияу ( miäu )
Khmer: ង៉ាវៗ ( ŋaav-ŋaav )
Korean: 야옹 (ko) ( yaong )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: میاو (ckb) ( myaw )
Lao: ເໝີວຍາ ( miao )
Latgalian: ņau
Latin: miau
Latvian: ņau , mjau
Lithuanian: miau (lt)
Luxembourgish: miau
Malay: ngeong , miau (ms) , ngiau (ms)
Mongolian: мяу ( mjau )
Nepali: म्याउ ( myāu )
Northern Thai: ᩉ᩠ᨾᩢ᩠ᨿ᩠ᩅ
Norwegian: mjau (no)
Persian: میو (fa) ( miyu )
Polish: miau (pl)
Portuguese: miau (pt)
Romanian: miau (ro) , miorlau (ro)
Russian: мя́у (ru) ( mjáu )
Scottish Gaelic: miamha
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мјау , мњау
Roman: mjau , mnjau
Slovak: mňau
Slovene: mjav
Spanish: miau (es) , ñau (es) , ñew m
Swedish: mjau (sv)
Tagalog: ingaw , ngiyaw
Tamil: மியாவ் ( miyāv )
Telugu: మ్యావ్ ( myāv )
Thai: เหมียว (th) ( mǐao )
Turkish: miyav (tr)
Ukrainian: няв ( njav )
Vietnamese: ngoao (vi) , ngao (vi) , meo (vi) , méo (vi) ( emphatic )
Volapük: miov
Yiddish: מיאַו ( myau )
meow (countable and uncountable , plural meows )
( countable ) The cry of a cat.
1968 , Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Quinn the Eskimo”:A cat’s meow and a cow’s moo, I can recite them all / Just tell me where it hurts you, honey
2024 August 1, Alison Foreman, “Why Do Audiences at Fantasia Fest … Meow?”, in IndieWire [1] :These days every Fantasia screening begins with a cacophony of meows — timed by the audience to start and stop at black leader.
( UK , slang , uncountable ) The drug mephedrone .
Synonyms: drone , meow meow
cry of a cat
Arabic: مُوَاء (ar) m ( muwāʔ )
Armenian: մլավոց (hy) ( mlavocʻ )
Bulgarian: мяу ( mjau )
Catalan: miol (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 喵 ( meu1 )
Mandarin: 喵 (zh) ( miāo ) , 咪咪 (zh) ( mīmī ) , 貓叫聲 / 猫叫声 (zh) ( māojiàoshēng )
Czech: mňoukání (cs) n , zamňoukání n
Danish: miav , mjav (da) , miau (da)
Dutch: miauw (nl) , gemiauw (nl) n
Esperanto: miaŭo (eo)
Estonian: mjäu , näu
Faroese: mjarr
Finnish: nau’unta , naukuminen (fi) , naukuna
French: miaou (fr) m , miaulement (fr) m , nyaw f
Galician: miau (gl)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Miau (de) n , Gemiaue n , Gemaunze n , Miauen n
Greek: νιαούρισμα (el) n ( niaoúrisma )
Icelandic: mjálm (is) n
Ido: miaulo (io)
Indonesian: meong (id)
Interlingua: miau
Irish: meamhlach f
Italian: miao (it)
Japanese: にゃ (ja) ( nya ) , にゃあ (ja) ( nyā ) , ニャー (ja) ( nyā )
Kapampangan: miyaw , ngeung
Korean: 야옹 (ko) ( yaong )
Latvian: ņaudiens m
Lithuanian: miau (lt)
Malay: ngeong , ngiau (ms) , ngiauan
Norwegian: mjau (no)
Polish: miau (pl) , miauczenie (pl) n , miauk (pl) m
Portuguese: miado (pt)
Quechua: miyaw ñiy
Romanian: mieunat (ro) n , miorlăit (ro) n
Russian: мяу́кание (ru) n ( mjaúkanije )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мјаукање n , мјаук m
Roman: mjaukanje n , mjauk (sh) m
Slovak: mňau
Slovene: mjavkanje n
Spanish: maullido (es) m
Swedish: mjau (sv) n , jamande (sv) n
Tagalog: ingaw , ngiyaw
Turkish: miyav (tr)
Vietnamese: meo meo , mèo mèo
Volapük: miov
meow (third-person singular simple present meows , present participle meowing , simple past and past participle meowed )
( intransitive ) Of a cat, to make its cry.
2024 August 1, Alison Foreman, “Why Do Audiences at Fantasia Fest … Meow?”, in IndieWire [2] :“The last thing they had seen in 2012 before that break was a short from Simon’s Cat called ‘Cat Man Do,’” said Lamothe. “When you leave 800 people in the dark, they will do something. That’s what Fantasia is. But because they had just seen that cat go meow, they meowed .”
2024 August 5, R29 Team, “A Week In Boston On An $81,000 Salary”, in Refinery29 [3] :The cat meows at me and bird-watches by the window facing the street. Sometimes I bird-watch with him because the older I get, the more interested I get in birds lol.
of a cat, to make its cry
Arabic: مَاءَ (ar) ( māʔa ) , تَمَوَّأَ ( tamawwaʔa )
Armenian: մլավել (hy) ( mlavel )
Belarusian: мя́ўкаць impf ( mjáŭkacʹ ) , мя́ўкнуць pf ( mjáŭknucʹ )
Catalan: miolar (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: please add this translation if you can
Mandarin: 貓叫 / 猫叫 (zh) ( māojiào ) , 咪咪叫 (zh) ( mīmī jiào )
Crimean Tatar: miyavlamaq
Czech: mňoukat (cs) impf , mňouknout pf
Danish: mjave
Dutch: miauwen (nl)
Esperanto: miaŭi (eo)
Estonian: näuguma , kräunuma
Faroese: mjarra , mjavma , mjavva , mjóma
Finnish: naukua (fi)
French: miauler (fr)
Galician: miañar (gl)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: miauen (de) , maunzen (de) , mauzen
Greek: νιαουρίζω (el) ( niaourízo )
Hungarian: nyávog (hu)
Icelandic: mjálma
Ido: miaular (io)
Interlingua: miaular
Italian: miagolare (it)
Japanese: にゃあと鳴く ( にゃあとなく, nyā to naku ) , 鳴く (ja) ( なく, naku )
Kapampangan: magmiyaw , magngeung
Kazakh: мияулау ( miäulau )
Korean: 야옹하다 ( yaonghada )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: میاواندن ( myawandin )
Latin: felio , maumo
Latvian: ņaudēt
Lithuanian: miauksėti
Malay: please add this translation if you can
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: мяалах ( mjaalax )
Norman: miaûner , vioûler
Norwegian: mjaue (no)
Polish: miauczeć (pl)
Portuguese: miar (pt)
Romanian: mieuna (ro) , miorlăi (ro)
Russian: мяу́кать (ru) impf ( mjaúkatʹ ) , мяу́кнуть (ru) pf ( mjaúknutʹ ) ( semelfactive )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мјаукати , мјаукнути
Roman: mjaukati (sh) , mjauknuti (sh)
Slovak: mňaukať
Slovene: mjavkati
Spanish: maullar (es) , hacer miau , miagar (es) (Cantabria )
Swedish: jama (sv)
Tagalog: umingaw , ngumiyaw
Turkish: miyavlamak (tr)
Turkmen: mawlamak
Ukrainian: няв ( njav )
Uzbek: miyovlamoq (uz)
Venetan: znjaołar
Volapük: miovön (vo)
mēow
first / third-person singular preterite indicative of māwan