kit-cat

noun

A short portrait, measuring 28 or 29 by 36 inches, less than half-length, but including the hands.

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Meanings

nounkit-cat (plural kit-cats)

plural kit-cats · alternative kitcat · alternative kitkat · alternative kit-kat

  1. historicalartA short portrait, measuring 28 or 29 by 36 inches, less than half-length, but including the hands.

Origin

So called because the size was adopted by Sir Godfrey Kneller for the portraits he painted of the members of London's 18th-century Kit-Cat Club, said to have been named after innkeeper Christopher Catt.

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Cite this entry
APA

kit-cat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kit-cat

MLA

“kit-cat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kit-cat. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kit-cat,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kit-cat.

Source: kit-cat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.