clowder

[klou-der]

noun

1. a group or cluster of cats.

Word History and Origins

Origin of clowder¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; variant of dialectal clodder “clotted mass,” noun use of clodder “to clot, coagulate,” Middle English clothered, clothred (past participle), variant of clotered; compare obsolete clotter “to huddle together”; clutter

Example Sentences

Our beast spent the first few weeks of his life in a happy, well socialized clowder monitored by a veterinarian.

From Salon

Strange cases like Byard’s clowder of cats may be written up and published as case studies, but minor bites may go unreported, and there are no central databases for forensic reports, she notes.

From Science Magazine

Within a herd, flock, clowder, pack or pod, it quietly preserves its potential to reinfect humans and rekindle outbreaks.

From Los Angeles Times

I leaned over and saw puppeteers sitting on skateboards while they hid behind a table, rolling into one another in apparent bliss as their hands animated a clowder of felt cats above their heads.

From New York Times

Someone had once told me that a group of cats was called a clowder or a glaring.

From Literature