Siamese

[sahy-uh-meez, -mees]

adjective

of or relating to Siam, its people, or their language.

Thai(def 3).

twin; closely connected; similar.

Informal. dual; combined; twofold or two-way: a Siamese sprinkler.

noun, plural Si·a·mese.

a native of Siam.

Thai(def 2).

Siamese cat.

(usually lowercase) a standpipe placed outside a building close to ground level, having two or more openings so that fire engines can pump water to the sprinkler system of the building.

Origin of Siamese

First recorded in 1685–95; Siam + -ese

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for siamese

And now the latest character in the saga is Choupette, a 9-month-old Siamese kitten upon whom he fastidiously dotes.
7 Facts to Know About Karl Lagerfeld’s Siamese Cat, Choupette|Isabel Wilkinson|June 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
They have mixed with the Siamese, till, at the first, it is difficult to distinguish them as having European blood and lineage.
Siam|George B. Bacon
By his elbow a delicate Siamese conned a handbook of strategy.
Ulysses|James Joyce
This observer credits the Siamese with an undeveloped sense of right and wrong, so that they are good only by accident.
Man, Past and Present|Agustus Henry Keane

But Angkor Thom and the principal monuments were situated near the Siamese frontier and felt the shock of every collision.
Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3 (of 3)|Charles Eliot
But it was his son who first decreed in 1868 that no Siamese could be born a slave.
Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3 (of 3)|Charles Eliot

British Dictionary definitions for siamese

Siamese

noun plural -mese

See Siamese cat

adjective

characteristic of, relating to, or being a Siamese twin

adjective, noun

another word for Thai

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

Word Origin and History for siamese

Siamese

adj.

"of or pertaining to Siam," 1690s; see Siam + -ese. Also from 1690s as a noun meaning "native of Siam." the original Siamese twins (exhibited from 1829) were Chang and Eng (1814-1874), Thai-Chinese natives of Siam who settled in the U.S. Hence Siamesed (adj.) "joined in the manner of Siamese twins" (1830). Siamese cat is attested from 1871.