Words with Webster: Caterwaul, Plus Friendly Fill-Ins

We have two fun features for you this Friday. First up is Words with Webster, in which he tells us about a noisy cat word. This is followed by Friendly Fill-Ins.

Words with Webster

 Hi, everybody! I’m Webster, and this is Words with Me. This week’s word is caterwaul. It means “of a cat: to make a harsh cry at rutting time” or “to quarrel noisily like cats.” That’s from my favorite dictionary, Webster’s. This word has been around for a really long time—since at least 1386 or thereabouts, according to the Oxford English Dictionary:

If the cattes skyn be slyk and gay, forth she wil, er eny day be dawet, To schewe hir skyn, and goon a caterwrawet (Chaucer, Wife of Bath’s Prology, ca. 1386).

I should mention that there were, like, a hundred different spellings. Or maybe about a dozen, which is still a lot. Also, Mommy is being reminded of why she hated having to read Chaucer in high school.

Let’s take this word apart. The first part, “cater” is obviously related to “cat” and possibly to Dutch and German “kater,” which refers to a male cat. But the OED says that “the form is not certainly explained,” meaning no one is really sure how “cat” became “cater.” Some people think the “er” part was just added on to connect “cat” with “waul.”

“Waul” was first spelled “wrawe” and seems to be related to a whole bunch of Danish, Bavarian, Norwegian, and Swiss words that mean “to roar,” “to cry as a cat” (Nor. “råla”), and “howl, whine” (Swiss “räulen,” used especially in reference to the cry of a cat in heat). There is also a Low German word “katterwaulen,” which appears in 1858, but the OED says that its history is uncertain. Wherever it came from, we think the second part is supposed to mimic the sound made by a cat who’s looking for love.

Of course, “caterwaul” and “caterwauling” can also be used for people’s activities, like “to be lecherous” or “any hideous, discordant howling noise.” The noisy meaning is what is meant in this quote from Shakespeare, which I think we’ll end with:

Why, what a catterwalling dost thou keepe! (William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus IV.ii.57, 1594)

Lovely music ... or caterwauling?
Image via Adobe Stock.

Friendly Fill-Ins

And now it’s time for Friendly Fill-Ins, from 15andmeowing and McGuffy’s Reader. They are a fun way to learn a little bit about the authors of the blogs you read. The first two questions, answered by old SoLT,  are from Ellen of 15andmeowing, and the next two, answered by Real Cat Paisley, are from Annie of McGuffy’s Reader.

Old SoLT’s answers:

1. As a child, my favorite playground activity was climbing the monkey bars.

2. For breakfast, I have yogurt with a little granola mixed in. I dream of having pancakes, but there never seems to be enough time, plus I need something I can eat at my desk.

Real Cat Paisley’s answers

3. An instrument I would like to play is drums. I bet I would be really good at banging on them.

4. I always try to look pretty, because I never know when Mommy is going to pop up with the flashy box and take my picture.