The cat (Felis catus), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a
small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae.
Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the domestication of the cat occurred in
the Near East around 7500 BC. It is commonly kept as a pet and farm cat, but also ranges freely as
a feral cat avoiding human contact. Valued by humans for companionship and its ability to
kill vermin, the cat's retractable claws are adapted to killing small prey such as mice and rats. It has a
strong, flexible body, quick reflexes, and sharp teeth, and its night vision and sense of smell are well
developed. It is a social species, but a solitary hunter and a crepuscular predator. Cat
communication includes vocalizations—including meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling,
and grunting—as well as body language. It can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for
human ears, such as those made by small mammals. It secretes and perceives pheromones.
Female domestic cats can have kittens from spring to late autumn in temperate zones and
throughout the year in equatorial regions, with litter sizes often ranging from two to five kittens.
Domestic cats are bred and shown at events as registered pedigreed cats, a hobby known as cat
fancy. Animal population control of cats may be achieved by spaying and neutering, but their
proliferation and the abandonment of pets has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide,
contributing to the extinction of bird, mammal, and reptile species.
As of 2017, the domestic cat was the second most popular pet in the United States, with 95.6 million
cats owned and around 42 million households owning at least one cat. In the United Kingdom, 26%
of adults have a cat, with an estimated population of 10.9 million pet cats as of 2020. As of
2021, there were an estimated 220 million owned and 480 million stray cats in the world.
Etymology and naming
The origin of the English word cat, Old English catt, is thought to be the Late Latin word cattus, which
was first used at the beginning of the 6th century.[4] The Late Latin word may be derived from an
unidentified African language.[5] The Nubian word kaddîska 'wildcat' and Nobiin kadīs are possible
sources or cognates.[6]
The forms might also have derived from an ancient Germanic word that was absorbed into Latin and
then into Greek, Syriac, and Arabic.[7] The word may be derived from Germanic and Northern
European languages, and ultimately be borrowed from Uralic, cf. Northern Sámi gáđfi, 'female stoat',
and Hungarian hölgy, 'lady, female stoat'; from Proto-Uralic *käďwä, 'female (of a furred animal)'.[8]
The English puss, extended as pussy and pussycat, is attested from the 16th century and may have
been introduced from Dutch poes or from Low German puuskatte, related to Swedish kattepus,
or Norwegian pus, pusekatt. Similar forms exist in Lithuanian puižė and Irish puisín or puiscín. The
etymology of this word is unknown, but it may have arisen from a sound used to attract a cat.[9][10]
A male cat is called a tom or tomcat[11] (or a gib,[12] if neutered). A female is called a queen[13][14] (or
sometimes a molly,[15] if spayed). A juvenile cat is referred to as a kitten. In Early Modern English, the
word kitten was interchangeable with the now-obsolete word catling.[16] A group of cats can be
referred to as a clowder, a glaring,[17] or a colony.[18]
