grimalkin

[ gri-mal-kin, -mawl- ]

noun

1. a cat.
2. an old female cat.
3. an ill-tempered old woman.

grimalkin

/ ɡrɪˈmælkɪn; -ˈmɔːl- /

noun

1. an old cat, esp an old female cat
2. a crotchety or shrewish old woman

Word History and Origins

Origin of grimalkin¹

1595–1605; apparently alteration of gray ¹ + malkin, diminutive of Maud proper name; -kin

Word History and Origins

Origin of grimalkin¹

C17: from grey + malkin

Example Sentences

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is a lot like cooking a recipe that must turn out perfect each time, said Rebecca Sheets, a regulatory expert and consultant at Grimalkin Partners, a firm that provides advice to the vaccine and biologics industry.

From Washington Post

When Lynch first began to publish poetry — “Grimalkin & Other Poems” is his most recent collection — his father asked when he intended to write a book about funerals.

From New York Times

His influence may in fact have reached William Shakespeare, who might have named the witches’ cat in Macbeth – Grimalkin – after one of Baldwin’s cats who appears decades earlier.

From The Guardian

Grimalkin never could annoy thee.

From Washington Post

Christopher’s cat lifted his head lazily, widened his eyes, and stared at Grimalkin.

From The New Yorker

Related Words

• kitten
• kitty