As I checked today's Word of the Day on Merriam-Webster's site, https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day, I discovered a word I'm familiar with — meaning I've seen it in written form and/or heard it spoken — but have never used in my own speaking or writing: caterwaul
Cat lovers might find this Did You Know? part interesting:
"Though the most familiar sense of caterwaul, “to protest or complain loudly,” is not specific to our feline friends, we still think it’s the cat’s meow, and not without good reason. Caterwaul first appeared in English in the 1300s as a verb applied to the wailing sounds made by cats when on the prowl for a mate. The word comes from the Middle English word caterwawen (also caterwrawen), but its origins beyond that are obscure. The cater part is thought to be connected to the cat, but scholars disagree about whether it traces to the Middle Dutch word cāter, meaning “tomcat,” or if it is merely cat with an “-er” added. Wawen is probably imitative in origin, approximating one of the domestic kitty’s many vocalizations. By the 1600s caterwaul was also being used for similar non-cat noises and later as a noun referring to noisy people or things."
(quoted from https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day on February 25, 2024)
