tabby

Meanings

1. A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering.
2. A concrete mixture of lime with shells, gravel, or stones, in equal proportions, with an equal proportion of water. When dry, this becomes as hard as rock.
3. A brindled cat.
4. A woman, irrespective of age, but often used for a young, attractive woman.
5. An old maid or gossip.

1. Having a wavy or watered appearance.
2. Brindled; diversified in color.

1. To give a wavy or watered appearance to (a textile).

1. A diminutive of the female given name Tabitha.
2. A diminutive of the female given name Tabetha.

Etymology

Mid 17th century French tabis, from Arabic عَتَّابِيّ (ʕattābiyy), ultimately from Arabic الْعَتَّابِيَّة (al-ʕattābiyya), a quarter of Baghdad (named for a Prince عَتَّاب (ʕattāb)) which is associated with the manufacture of a certain type of waved silk. See also taffeta, another type of silk whose name derives from the Persian تافته (tâfta, “woven cloth”) and shares a similar etymological origin.