scat

Meanings

1. A tax; tribute.
2. A land-tax paid in the Shetland Islands.

1. Animal excrement; droppings, dung.
2. Heroin.
3. Whiskey.
4. Coprophilia, scatophilia.

1. A blow; a hit, an impact.
2. A brisk shower of rain, driven by the wind.

1. Scat singing.

1. To sing an improvised melodic solo using nonsense syllables, often onomatopoeic or imitative of musical instruments.

1. To leave quickly.

1. An imperative demand to leave, often understood by speaker and listener as impertinent.

1. Any fish in the family Scatophagidae.

Etymology

From Middle English scet, schat, from Old English sċeatt (“property, goods”) and Old Norse skattr (“wealth, treaure”); both from Proto-Germanic *skattaz (“cattle, kine, wealth”), from Proto-Indo-European *skatn-, *skat- (“to jump, skip, splash out”). Cognate with Scots scat (“tax, levy, charge, payment, bribe”), West Frisian skat (“treasure, darling”), Dutch schat (“treasure, hoard, darling, sweetheart”), German Schatz (“treasure, hoard, wealth, store, darling, sweetheart”), Swedish skatt (“treasure, tax, duty”), Icelandic skattur (“tax, tribute”), Latin scateō (“gush, team, bubble forth, abound”).