Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

kitty-cornered

or kit·ty-cor·ner

[kit-ee-kawr-nerd]
See more synonyms for kitty-cornered on Thesaurus.com
adjective, adverb Chiefly Northern and Western U.S.
  1. cater-cornered.
Show More

Origin of kitty-cornered

First recorded in 1885–90

cater-cornered

[kat-i-kawr-nerd, kat-ee-, kat-er-]
adjective
  1. diagonal.
Show More
adverb
  1. diagonally.
Show More
Also cat·er·cor·ner, cat·er-cor·ner, catty-corner, catty-cornered, kitty-corner, kitty-cornered.

Origin of cater-cornered

1830–40; dial. cater (adv.) diagonally (probably to be identified with obsolete cater four < Middle French quatre < Latin quattuor) + cornered
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

crosswise, sidelong, diagonally, catty-corner, cornerwise, kitty-corner, askew, obliquely, aslant, slantways, slantwise
British Dictionary definitions for kitty-corner

kitty-cornered

adjective
  1. a variant of cater-cornered
Show More

cater-cornered

adjective, adverb
  1. US and Canadian informal diagonally placed; diagonalAlso: catty-cornered, kitty-cornered
Show More

Word Origin

C16 cater, from dialect cater (adv) diagonally, from obsolete cater (n) four-spot of dice, from Old French quatre four, from Latin quattuor
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012