Catty

Catty

Catty is the English word for a traditional Chinese unit of mass called a "jīn" (Chinese characters: 斤) in Mandarin Chinese (or "kan" in Cantonese, "kin" or "kun" in Minnan and "kin" in Japanese) used across East Asia, commonly found in wet markets and in supermarkets. The English word "catty" originated from Malay word "kati".

The catty is traditionally equivalent to around 1⅓ pounds avoirdupois, formalised as 604.78982 grammes in Hong Kongcite web|title = Weights and Measures Ordinance |work = The Law of Hong Kong | url = http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_ind.nsf/e1bf50c09a33d3dc482564840019d2f4/4ed2ff0cf02f2fd9c82564760077af3c?OpenDocument ] , 604.79 grammes in Malaysia cite web|title = Weights and Measures Act 1972 | url = http://www.kpdnhep.gov.my/pub/kpdn/html/akta_timbangsukat1972.pdf] and 604.8 grammes in Singapore cite web|title = Weights and Measures Act | url = http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_retrieve.pl?&actno=Reved-349&date=latest&method=p] . In some countries, the weight has been rounded to 600 grammes (Taiwan and Thailand), whereas in mainland China it has been rounded to 500 grammes.

Related weights

A picul (Malay: "pikul", Chinese: 擔 (Mandarin: "dàn", Cantonese: "tam")) is equal to 100 catties.

A tael (Malay: "tahil", Chinese: 兩 (Mandarin: "liăng", Cantonese "leung", Minnan "niu" or "nio•")) is the English term for 1/16 of a catty.

References

ee also

*Chinese units of measurement
*Taiwanese units of measurement
*Japanese units of measurement
*Caddy (disambiguation)
*Tea caddy


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Catty — Cat ty, n. [Malay kat[=i]. See {Caddy}.] An East Indian Weight of 11/3 pounds. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Catty — Catty, 1) Gewicht in China, Japan u. einigen ostindischen Inseln, zwischen 1 u. 2 Zollpfund schwer; 2) (Cattos), Rechnungsmünze auf Java = 44 Thlr. 13 Sgr …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Catty — (engl.), ostasiatisches Gewicht, s. Kätti …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Catty — (Mehrzahl Catties), s. Kätti …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Catty — Catty, Catto, Rechnungsmünze auf Java = 44 Thlr. 13 Sgr. 31/2 Pfg. = 64 fl. 48 kr. C. M …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • catty — 1886, devious and spiteful, from CAT (Cf. cat) + Y (Cf. y) (2). Slightly earlier was cattish (1883) …   Etymology dictionary

  • catty — [adj] nasty, malicious backbiting, evil, hateful, ill natured, malevolent, mean, rancorous, spiteful, venomous, vicious, wicked; concept 404 Ant. kind, nice, pleasant …   New thesaurus

  • catty — ► ADJECTIVE (cattier, cattiest) ▪ spiteful. DERIVATIVES cattily adverb …   English terms dictionary

  • catty — catty1 [kat′ē] adj. cattier, cattiest 1. of or like a cat 2. spiteful, mean, malicious, etc. cattily adv. cattiness n. catty2 [kat′ē] n. pl. catties [Malay kātī: see …   English World dictionary

  • catty — [[t]kæ̱ti[/t]] cattier, cattiest ADJ GRADED If someone, especially a woman or girl, is being catty, they are being unpleasant and unkind. [INFORMAL] His mother was catty, status conscious and loud. ...catty remarks. Syn: bitchy …   English dictionary

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