catnip
Any of the about 250 species of flowering plant of the genus Nepeta, family Lamiaceae,…Any of the about 250 species of flowering plant of the genus Nepeta, family Lamiaceae, certain of which are said to have medicinal qualities.
» Why does catnip make cats loopy?
Warum lässt Katzenminze Katzen verrückt werden?
Meaning
3 senses(countable, uncountable)Any of the about 250 species of flowering plant of the genus Nepeta, family Lamiaceae, certain of which are said to have medicinal qualities.
Katzenminze
коша́чья мя́таkošáčʹja mjáta
кото́вникkotóvnyk
Any of the about 250 species of flowering plant of the genus Nepeta, family Lamiaceae, certain of which are said to have medicinal qualities.
(countable, uncountable)Nepeta cataria and Nepeta grandiflora (and perhaps other species), which are well-known for causing an apparently harmless pheromone-based intoxication among certain cats.
Some cats go bonkers over catnip; others ignore it.
Katzenminze, Echte Katzenminze
кото́вник коша́чийkotóvnik košáčij, коша́чья мя́таkošáčʹja mjáta
(countable, figuratively, uncountable)Something that causes excitement or interest.
Near-synonym: crack
Their outrage was catnip to the trolls who had deepfaked the video.
Unwiderstehlichkeit, gefundenes Fressen, Zugpferd
- hairy aromatic perennial herb having whorls of small white purple-spotted flowers in a terminal spike; used in the past as a domestic remedy; strongly attractive to cats
Examples
14 sentencesWhy does catnip make cats loopy?
deWarum lässt Katzenminze Katzen verrückt werden?
Why does catnip drive cats nuts?
deWarum lässt Katzenminze Katzen verrückt werden?
Tom gave his cat some catnip.
What is catnip?
My cat loves catnip.
deMeine Katze liebt Katzenminze.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 2
By meaning 3
Origin
Compound of cat + nep, nip (“catnip”), from Middle English nep, from Old English nepte, frCompound of cat + nep, nip (“catnip”), from Middle English nep, from Old English nepte, from Proto-West Germanic *nepetā, from Latin nepeta (“catnip”). Compare earlier catmint (“catnip”), from Middle English catt mynte, which very likely existed in Old English (as *cattes minte) as well.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: catnipsSynonyms
4 synonyms- hairy aromatic perennial herb having whorls of small white purple-spotted flowers in a terminal spike; used in the past as a domestic remedy; strongly attractive to cats:catmintNepeta cataria
Word family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable