Meanings
nouncat's eye (countable and uncountable, plural cats' eyes or cat's eyes)
plural cats' eyes · plural cat's eyes · alternative cat's-eye · alternative catseye
- Commonwealthcountableespeciallyplural normallyA retroreflective device placed on a road surface as a marking that can be seen even at night.
- countableuncountableA gemstone exhibiting chatoyancy.
- countableuncountablechemistryCymophane (translucent yellow chatoyant chrysoberyl).
- New ZealandcountableA sea snail, Lunella smaragda
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA glass marble with elongated colourful inclusions running through its axis.
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Frenchœil de chat
- Englishcat's eye
An allusion to the way a cat's eyes will appear to glow when illuminated in the dark. In mineralogy, a calque of French œil de chat.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian котешко око
- котешко око (koteško oko)retroreflective device placed on a road surface
Chinese Mandarin 貓眼 /猫眼, 貓眼 /猫眼
- 貓眼 /猫眼 (māoyǎn)retroreflective device placed on a road surface
- 貓眼 /猫眼 (māoyǎn)glass marble with elongated inclusions
Czech Kočičí oko
- Kočičí okoretroreflective device placed on a road surface
Dutch kattenoog
- kattenoogretroreflective device placed on a road surface
Finnish tienpintaheijastin, lasikuula
- tienpintaheijastinretroreflective device placed on a road surface
- lasikuulaglass marble with elongated inclusions
French œil de chat
- œil de chatretroreflective device placed on a road surface
German Katzenauge
- Katzenaugeretroreflective device placed on a road surface
Irish súile cait
- súile caitretroreflective device placed on a road surface
Italian catadiottro, catarifrangente
- catadiottroretroreflective device placed on a road surface
- catarifrangenteretroreflective device placed on a road surface
Japanese チャッターバー
- チャッターバー (chattā bā)retroreflective device placed on a road surface
Malay pemantul cahaya
- pemantul cahayaretroreflective device placed on a road surface
Polish kocie oczko
- kocie oczkoretroreflective device placed on a road surface
Portuguese olho de gato, tachão
- olho de gatoretroreflective device placed on a road surface
- tachãoretroreflective device placed on a road surface
- tartarugaretroreflective device placed on a road surface
Russian катафо́т, коша́чий глаз
- катафо́т (katafót)retroreflective device placed on a road surface
- коша́чий глаз (košáčij glaz)glass marble with elongated inclusions
Swedish kattöga
- kattögaretroreflective device placed on a road surface
Tamil பூனைக்கண், பூனைக்கண்கல்
- பூனைக்கண் (pūṉaikkaṇ)glass marble with elongated inclusions
- பூனைக்கண்கல் (pūṉaikkaṇkal)glass marble with elongated inclusions
- பூனைக்கண்வைடூரியம் (pūṉaikkaṇvaiṭūriyam)glass marble with elongated inclusions
Thai ตาแมว
- ตาแมว (dtaa-mɛɛo)retroreflective device placed on a road surface
Welsh llygad cath
- llygad cathretroreflective device placed on a road surface
Cite this entry
APA
cat's eye. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cat's%20eye
MLA
“cat's eye.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cat's%20eye. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cat's eye,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cat's%20eye.
Source: cat's eye on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.