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Pussy () is an English language noun, adjective, and—in rare instances—verb. It has several meanings, as slang, as euphemism, and as vulgarity. Most commonly, it is used as a noun with the meaning "cat", or "cowardice" or "weakness". In slang, it can mean "vulva," "vagina", or by synecdoche, "sexual intercourse with a woman". Because of its multiple senses including both innocent and vulgar , pussy is often the subject of double entendre. The etymology of the word is not clear. Several different senses of the word have different histories or origins. The earliest records of pussy are in the 19th century, meaning something fluffy.
The words puss and derived forms pussy and pusscat were extended to refer to girls or women by the seventeenth century. This sense of pussy was used to refer specifically to genitalia by the eighteenth century, and from there further extended to refer to sexual intercourse involving a woman by the twentieth century. Webster's Third International Dictionary suggests that pussy in the sense of "vulva" may be connected to Old Norse pūss and Old English pusa, meaning 'pocket' or 'purse'.
Meanings of the verb relate to the common noun senses, including "to act like a cat", "to act like a coward", or "to have sex with a woman". Adjective meanings are likewise related to the noun.
The homograph pussy, pronounced , means "containing pus". Medical professionals will often use the synonym purulent to avoid pussy's other meanings.
Pussy is also a variant spelling of pursy or pursive, obsolete words for 'fat, pot-bellied, short of breath, broken-winded, asthmatic (of a horse)'.
The Oxford English Dictionary gives as the first meaning of the noun: "Chiefly colloquial. A girl or woman exhibiting characteristics associated with a cat, especially sweetness or amiability. Frequently used as a pet name or as a term of endearment." The examples it cites from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries are not sexual. Another example, not cited by the OED, is one of the main characters of E. Nesbit's Five Children and It - Jane, nicknamed Pussy by her siblings.
The verb pussyfoot, meaning to walk softly or to speak in an evasive or cautious manner, may come from the adjective pussy-footed "having a cat-like foot", or directly from the noun pussyfoot. This word, first attested in the late nineteenth century, is related to both the "cat" and the "woman" meanings of pussy.
American President Donald Trump's use of the word to describe celebrity interactions with women ("grab them by the pussy", known as the Access Hollywood tape) provoked strong reactions by media figures and politicians across the political spectrum; an image of a snarling cat with the slogan "pussy grabs back" became a "rallying cry for female rage against Trump".Puglise, Nicole. 'Pussy grabs back' becomes rallying cry for female rage against Trump, The Guardian (October 10, 2016). Pink "" (knitted caps with cat-like ears) were a notable feature of the worldwide protests held the day after Trump's first inauguration as President of the United States. The name attempts to reclaim the derogatory term "'Pussyhat' knitters join long tradition of crafty activism" BBC News. January 19, 2017. and is never used as an anatomical representation.
Words referring to cats are used as vulgar slang for female genitals in some other European languages as well. Examples include German Muschi (literally "house cat"), French chatte ("female cat", also used to refer to sexual intercourse), Dutch poes ("puss"), Portuguese rata (literally "female rat"), and Norwegian mus ("mouse"), which are also animal terms used as vulgar slang for women's genitals.
Men who are dominated by women (particularly by their partners or spouses and at one time referred to as "hen-pecked"; see pecking order) can be referred to as pussy-whipped (or simply whipped in slightly more polite society or media). This may be used simply to denigrate a man who is contented in a relationship. The hyphenated phrase is parsed as "whipped by pussy", a manipulative relationship dynamic wherein a female deliberately or subconsciously withholds sexual intercourse to coerce the male into surrendering power in other aspects of the relationship.
In the British comedy Are You Being Served? the character Mrs. Slocombe often expressed concern for the welfare of her pussy. The double entendre made every reference to her cat seem to be a salacious and therefore humorous reference to her vulva.
In the 2002 film 8 Mile, a rap music insults his rivals by including the line, "How can six dicks be pussies?" The line relies on double meanings of both dick (either "contemptible person" or "male genitalia") and pussy ("weak" or "female genitalia"). Such word play presents a challenge for translators of the film.
Pussy Riot is a Russian radical feminist punk rock collective that stages illegal events in Moscow protesting President Vladimir Putin and the status of women in Russian society. Band member "Kot" says that she knows how the word is used in English, and that it is also used in Russian as term of endearment for little girls. These various meanings create a tension with the word "riot", which the group likes.
In 2017 Planned Parenthood released a series of short videos on YouTube about female sexual health, with the overall title "How to take care of your pussy". Instead of the word "pussy" being shown or spoken, a cat appears instead. The visuals consist mainly of cats, playing on the popularity of cat videos, with a voiceover by Sasheer Zamata. Refinery29 called it "a pretty genius metaphor" and Metro said: "If there are two things left in this world that are inherently wonderful, it's cats and vaginas. Don't argue. It's true.... It makes sense, then, that Planned Parenthood has decided to combine the two to create a truly splendid video series." The series has been shortlisted for a Shorty Award.
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