{{short description|Vocalization by cats}} {{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} {{Other uses}} {{Redirect|Miaow}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{listen | pos = right | filename = Meow_normalized.opus | title = Meow! | format = Opus (audio format) }} alt=A cat meowing.|right|thumb|A cat meowing A '''meow''' or '''miaow''' is a cat vocalization. ''Meows'' may have a large range of sounds.<ref name="Schotz"/> Adult cats rarely meow to each other, and so adult meowing to human beings is generally considered a post-domestication extension of meowing by kittens: a call for attention.<ref name="Bradshaw">{{cite journal |last1=Bradshaw |first1=John W.S. |title=Sociality in cats: A comparative review |journal=Journal of Veterinary Behavior |date=January 2016 |volume=11 |pages=113–124 |doi=10.1016/j.jveb.2015.09.004}}</ref>
Pre-domesticated felines are believed to have communicated with each other mainly via their sense of smell and marking behaviors which provide a superior means of communication with other cats, but as they were domesticated they learned to vocalize to humans. Their vocalizations can signal hunger, desire to go outside, or simple greetings.<ref name="live">{{cite news |first=Isobel |last=Whitcomb |title=Why do cats meow? |publisher=Live Science |access-date=10 June 2023 |date=15 September 2022 |url=https://www.livescience.com/why-cats-meow.html |archive-date=10 June 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230610221136/https://www.livescience.com/why-cats-meow.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{anchor|Mew}}A '''mew''' is a high-pitched meow often produced by kittens. It is apparently used to solicit attention from the kitten's mother, and adult cats may use it during periods of distress or sadness, or to signal submission.<ref name="Schotz">{{cite conference |last1=Schötz |first1=Susanne |last2=van de Weijer |first2=Joost |last3=Eklund |first3=Robert |isbn=978-2-9562029-0-5 |title=Phonetic Characteristics of Domestic Cat Vocalisations |conference=1st International Workshop on Vocal Interactivity in-and-between Humans, Animals and Robots |date=25 August 2017 |url=https://vihar-2017.vihar.org/assets/papers/VIHAR-2017_paper_5.pdf |conference-url= https://vihar-2017.vihar.org/assets/vihar2017_proceedings.pdf |pages=5–6}}</ref>
== Background and biological details == Meowing fundamentally evolves as a learned behavior. Feral cats meow much less often than cats with owners. Over time, cats may learn to meow in response to human vocalizations, so that a back and forth resembling a conversation in all but content may take place.<ref name="live"/><ref name="Bradshaw" />
==Etymology== The words used to represent ''meow'' globally are similar because cats meow the same way globally. However, differences between words emerge with time.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Flaksman |first=Maria |last2=Kilpatrick |first2=Alexander |year=2025 |title=Against the tide: How language-specificity of imitative words increases with time (as evidenced by Surprisal). |journal=SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=78-93}}</ref>
==See also== * Cross-linguistic onomatopoeias § Mammal sounds * Devocalization * List of animal sounds
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{wiktionary inline}} * {{wikiquote inline}} * {{commons category inline|Cats meowing}}
{{Cat nav}} {{Authority control}} Category:Animal sounds Category:Cat behavior Category:Onomatopoeia