marramáu

Spanish

Alternative forms

  • marramao, marramamiáu, marramiao, marramiáu, marra miáu

Etymology

Onomatopoeic First attested as an interjection imitating the cry of a cat, especially when in heat, in 1514, in Auto o farsa del Nascimiento de Nuestro Señor by L. Fernández. As the “characteristic sound of a cat, especially when in heat”, it appears in La historia de Tobías (before 1635) by Lope de Vega, and is first recorded in the Diccionario de la lengua española (1917) by Alemany Bolufer. As a noun meaning “a carnivorous mammal of the family Felidae, particularly the domestic cat”, it is documented from 1907 onward, for example in the fable “El pájaro y el gato” by L. Durán de León in La Actualidad (Barcelona), and was likewise first included with this sense in Alemany Bolufer’s dictionary.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /maraˈmau/ [ma.raˈmau̯]
  • Rhymes: -au
  • Syllabification: ma‧rra‧máu

Noun

marramáu m (plural marramáus)

  1. The characteristic cry of a cat, especially when in heat.
  2. (Spain) A cat; (domestic cat).

Interjection

marramáu

  1. Used to imitate the cry of a cat, especially when in heat.

Further reading

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