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kitten

kit·ten/ˈkɪtən̩/noun, verb

kitten is spelled K-I-T-T-E-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables (kit·ten). It appears 4.4 times per million words in written English, the 12,216th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, kitten means “A young cat, especially before sexual maturity (reached at about seven months)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of kitten is kittens.

How many letters and syllables are in kitten?

Letters6: K-I-T-T-E-N
Syllables2: kit·ten
In writing4.4 times per million words; the 12,216th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is kitten?

Kitten appears 4.4 times per million words in written English, the 12,216th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce kitten?

  • /ˈkɪtən̩/
  • [kʰɪtn̩]
  • [kʰɪʔn̩]

Kitten has 2 syllables, split kit·ten in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-kitten.ogg, En-us-kitten.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of kitten

  • kittens plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • kittening participle, present
  • kittened participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does kitten mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A young cat, especially before sexual maturity (reached at about seven months).

  2. 2

    A young rabbit, rat, hedgehog, squirrel, fox, beaver, badger, etc.

  3. 3

    A moth of the genus Furcula.

  4. 4

    colloquialA term of endearment, especially for a woman.

    Speak only when spoken to, kitten.

  5. 5

    colloquialA girlfriend.

verb

  1. 1

    To give birth to kittens.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Kitten in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchchaton (a young cat), blaireautin (badger), hérissonneau (hedgehog), lapereau, raton, renardeau (a young rabbit, rat, hedgehog, squirrel, fox…)
GermanKätzchen, Kätzlein, Katzenbaby, Katzerl, Kätzli, Katzenjunges (a young cat)
Portuguesegatinho, gatinha (a young cat)
Spanishgatito, minino, gatita (a young cat)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does kitten come from?

From Middle English kitoun, kytton, kyton, keton (“kitten”), of obscure origin. Seemingly from, and usually explained as being from, unattested Anglo-Norman *kitoun, *ketun (compare Old French chitoun, cheton, chaton (“kitten”), diminutive of cat, chat (“cat”)); whence Modern French chaton (“kitten”). Similar words of Germanic origin may have reinforced this word; compare English kitling (“kit, kitten”), Low German Kitten (“kitten”), Icelandic kettlingur (“kitten”), Middle English chitte ("whelp, pup", see chit).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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