kitten
n. countablen. a young cat. You use this word for a cat that is not yet an adult.
n. a juvenile domestic cat. Often used metaphorically to describe someone who is weak or gentle.
The tiny kitten is sleeping in a basket.
Our neighbor's cat just had a litter of five kittens, and they are starting to explore the garden.
While the adult cat remained aloof and cautious, the kitten approached the stranger with a mix of clumsy curiosity and boundless energy.
From Middle English kitoun, kytton, kyton, keton (“kitten”), of obscure 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.
Commonly used in the phrase 'to have kittens' to describe being extremely nervous or upset.