catling
/ˈkætlɪŋ/
"catling" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“catling” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A little cat; a kitten.
Corpus desk
Index EN-catling · catling · English
catling · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | catling |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkætlɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “catling” in English
Rare enough to double-check
catling is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkætlɪŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for catling in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From cat + -ling. Compare kitling, catkin. According to the OED, the sense of a surgical knife may be an independent word. The correct English form is catling, spelled C-A-T-L-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1A little cat; a kitten.
- 2catgut; a catgut string
- 3A double-edged, sharp-pointed dismembering knife.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how catling appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
For never cat nor catling I shall find, / But mew shall they in Pluto's palace blind.
Abel was a lover of the worst type: when he was with a catling he hardly ever laughed . If the catling came back again, he never did.
Etymology
From cat + -ling. Compare kitling, catkin. According to the OED, the sense of a surgical knife may be an independent word.
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.