A pleading cat. Alteration of earlier mew 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 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 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 ) 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 ) 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 ) 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 