I Just Learned The Original Webster Dictionary Definition Of ‘Cat,’ And It’s Hilarious

There are so many delightful facts to learn about cats.

For instance, you might not have known that they really like it when you use a baby voice with them, or that their favourite mildly violent act of love is headbutting. 

But even if you were all caught up with those facts, you mightn’t be aware of this one; Noah Webster (yep, he of Webster’s Dictionary fame) seemingly despised the pets and took his rage out on the page.

How?

Noah Webster had a vision for his dictionary, which would be published in 1828.

“It is not only important, but, in a degree necessary, that the people of this country, should have an American Dictionary of the English language; for, although the body of the language is the same as in England, and it is desirable to perpetuate that sameness, yet some differences must exist,” he reasoned.

He understood the fluidity of language, saying, “Every man of common reading knows that a living language must necessarily suffer gradual changes in its current words, in the significations of many words, and in pronunciation.” 

But while many of his ideas became popular, some didn’t catch on ― like his proposed American spelling of “tongue” as “tung.” 

Another non-starter was his original definition of “cat.”

“The domestic cat needs no description. It is a deceitful animal, and when enraged, extremely spiteful,” he wrote in his first dictionary.

“It is kept in houses, chiefly for the purpose of catching rats and mice. The wild cat is much larger than the domestic cat It is a strong, ferocious animal, living in the forest, and very destructive to poultry and lambs.”

Oh! 

Yup ― it doesn’t look like he was a fan.

In 1843, the company that is now Merriam-Webster bought the rights to the 1841 copy of Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language, Corrected and Enlarged.

Merriam-Webster calls themselves “the direct lexicographical heir of Noah Webster” ― and YET, their (comparatively glowing) definition of cat reads: “a carnivorous mammal (Felis catus) long domesticated as a pet and for catching rats and mice.” 

Hmmm…