tabby

[ tab-ee ]

/ ˈtæb i /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tabby ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural tab·bies.

a cat with a striped or brindled coat.

a domestic cat, especially a female one.

a spinster.

a spiteful female gossip or tattler.

plain weave.

a watered silk fabric, or any other watered material, as moreen.

adjective

striped or brindled.

made of or resembling tabby.

verb (used with object), tab·bied, tab·by·ing.

to give a wavy or watered appearance to, as silk.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

tabari, tabasco, tabbinet, tabbouleh, tabbouli, tabby, taber, tabernacle, tabernacle frame, tabernacle mirror, tabernacles

Origin of tabby

1630–40; back formation from French tabis (taken as plural), Middle French (a)tabis silk cloth < Medieval Latin attābi < Arabic ʿattābī, derivative of (al-)ʿAttābīyah, quarter of Baghdad where the silk was first made, literally, the quarter of (Prince) ʿAttāb

Definition for tabby (2 of 2)

tabby

[ tab-ee ]

/ ˈtæb i /

noun

(in the southeastern U.S.) a building material composed of ground oyster shells, lime, and sand, mixed with salt water.

Origin of tabby

An Americanism dating back to 1765–75; said to be of West African orig.

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

Examples from the Web for tabby

A time was appointed, and Tabby, the chief, sent a man and horse for me.
Forty Years Among the Indians|Daniel W. Jones
But what makes you feel as if something was going to happen to reveal the secret, Tabby?
Tried for Her Life|Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth
Miss Tabby shrieked out that she was going to be drowned, although not a drop of water had touched her.
Tried for Her Life|Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth
I have two or three other cats, sir; but I'm very poor, and a little money is more useful to me than old Tabby.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 404, June, 1849|Various

This as a watch dog he felt it his duty to do once or twice during the night, while Tabby went to the barn to catch mice.
Zip, the Adventures of a Frisky Fox Terrier|Frances Trego Montgomery

British Dictionary definitions for tabby (1 of 2)

tabby

/ (ˈtæbɪ) /

noun

a fabric with a watered pattern, esp silk or taffeta

Word Origin for tabby

C17: from Old French tabis silk cloth, from Arabic al-`attabiya, literally: the quarter of (Prince) `Attab, the part of Baghdad where the fabric was first made

British Dictionary definitions for tabby (2 of 2)

tabby

/ (ˈtæbɪ) /

adjective

(esp of cats) brindled with dark stripes or wavy markings on a lighter background

having a wavy or striped pattern, particularly in colours of grey and brown

noun plural -bies

a tabby cat

any female domestic cat

British informal a gossiping old woman

Australian slang any girl or woman

Word Origin for tabby

C17: from Tabby, pet form of the girl's name Tabitha, probably influenced by tabby 1

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 tabby

tabby

1630s, "striped silk taffeta," from French tabis "a rich, watered silk (originally striped)," from Middle French atabis (14c.), from Arabic 'attabiya, from 'Attabiy, a neighborhood of Baghdad where such cloth was first made, named for prince 'Attab of the Omayyad dynasty. Tabby cat, one with a striped coat, is attested from 1690s; shortened form tabby first attested 1774. Sense of "female cat" (1826) may be influenced by the fem. proper name Tabby, a pet form of Tabitha, which was used in late 18c. as slang for "difficult old woman."