Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA type of inflorescence, consisting of an axis with many unisexual apetalous flowers along its sides, as in the willow and poplar.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Dutchkatteken“catkin”
- Englishcatkin
From Middle Dutch katteken (“catkin”, literally “little cat”). So named due to the resemblance of lengthier kinds to a kitten's tail, or, perhaps more probably, the fine fur found on some catkins (compare the pictures). Cognate with German Kätzchen, modern Dutch katje; compare French chaton (“kitten”; “catkin”). By surface analysis, cat + -kin.
More words from Middle Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque gerba
- gerbabotany: a type of inflorescence
Bulgarian реса
- реса (resa)botany: a type of inflorescence
Catalan ament
- amentbotany: a type of inflorescence
Chinese Mandarin 柔荑花序
- 柔荑花序 (róutíhuāxù)botany: a type of inflorescence
Czech jehněda
- jehnědabotany: a type of inflorescence
Danish rakle, gæsling
- raklebotany: a type of inflorescence
- gæslingbotany: a type of inflorescence
Dutch katje
- katjebotany: a type of inflorescence
Esperanto amento
- amentobotany: a type of inflorescence
Estonian urb
- urbbotany: a type of inflorescence
Finnish norkko, pajunkissa
- norkkobotany: a type of inflorescence
- pajunkissabotany: a type of inflorescence
- urpubotany: a type of inflorescence
French chaton, iule
- chatonbotany: a type of inflorescence
- iulebotany: a type of inflorescence
German Kätzchen
- Kätzchenbotany: a type of inflorescence
Greek ανθήλη, ίουλος
- ανθήλη (anthíli)botany: a type of inflorescence
- ίουλος (íoulos)botany: a type of inflorescence
Hungarian barka
- barkabotany: a type of inflorescence
Icelandic rekill
- rekillbotany: a type of inflorescence
Irish caitín
- caitínbotany: a type of inflorescence
Italian gattino, amento
- gattinobotany: a type of inflorescence
- amentobotany: a type of inflorescence
Japanese 尾状花序
- 尾状花序 (bijō-kajo)botany: a type of inflorescence
Korean 버들강아지
- 버들강아지 (beodeulgang'aji)botany: a type of inflorescence
Latin iulus
- iulusbotany: a type of inflorescence
Māori huahae
- huahaebotany: a type of inflorescence
Norwegian Bokmål rakle, gåsunge
- raklebotany: a type of inflorescence
- gåsungebotany: a type of inflorescence
Polish kotka, bazia
- kotkabotany: a type of inflorescence
- baziabotany: a type of inflorescence
Portuguese amento, amentilho
- amentobotany: a type of inflorescence
- amentilhobotany: a type of inflorescence
Romanian ament, mâțișor
- amentbotany: a type of inflorescence
- mâțișorbotany: a type of inflorescence
Russian серёжка
- серёжка (serjóžka)botany: a type of inflorescence
Scottish Gaelic clòimh-chat, cluigean
- clòimh-chatbotany: a type of inflorescence
- cluigeanbotany: a type of inflorescence
Spanish amento
- amentobotany: a type of inflorescence
Swedish hänge
- hängebotany: a type of inflorescence
Tagalog laylaybulak
- laylaybulakbotany: a type of inflorescence
Ukrainian сережка, котик
- сережка (serežka)botany: a type of inflorescence
- котик (kotyk)botany: a type of inflorescence
- богсьок (bohsʹok)botany: a type of inflorescence
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
catkin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catkin
“catkin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catkin. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “catkin,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/catkin.
Source: catkin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.