Other forms: kittens
A kitten is a young cat. A litter of kittens, a tiny kitten, kitten season.
The window for socialising one runs from about two to seven weeks, and a kitten that meets people and other animals then is a different adult from one that does not — this is the single most consequential fact about raising cats. Kittens are born deaf and blind. Note that the origin of the word is unknown.
1nounkittenA young cat.
“The kitten chased a ball of wool around the living room.”
kitten is a young animal.
Middle English kitoun is of unknown origin, probably from an Anglo-Norman form related to cat.
Anglo-Norman
*kitoun
Middle English
kitoun
English, today
kitten
Built from
From Middle English kitoun, kytton, kyton, keton (“kitten”), of unknown origin. Seemingly from, and usually explained as being from, unattested Anglo-Norman kitoun, ketun (compare Old French chitoun, cheton, chaton (“kitten”), diminutive of cat, chat (“cat”)); whence Modern French chaton (“kitten”). Similar words of Germanic origin may have reinforced this word; compare English kitling (“kit, kitten”), Low German Kitten (“kitten”), Icelandic kettlingur (“kitten”), Middle English chitte "whelp, pup", see chit. The idea that kitoun, rather than being of Anglo-Norman origin, was in fact a purely Germanic derivation from one of these words is etymologically problematic, but cannot be definitively ruled out.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA