Why Is The Vagina Also Known As "pussy"?

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There appear to be a number of theories as to why the slang for the vagina (or perhaps more precisely, the vulva) is pussy. The most common derivation that I see in dictionaries and other resources is that it can be traced back to the Old Norse puss meaning "pouch" or "pocket". In that sense, it is not unlike the etymology of vagina which itself comes from the Latin vagina meaning "sheath" or "scabbard".

According to Michael Sims, Old English had the word pusa or posa for "bag" and by the 1660s, English saw the use of pusse to signify the vagina. Etymonline believes the term to have likely been adopted for general use only in the 19th-century. The same resource also offers an alternative theory for the word's origins:

but perhaps instead from the cat word on notion of "soft, warm, furry thing;" compare French le chat, which also has a double meaning, feline and genital.

In other words, "soft, warm, furry thing" = pussy? It also became a term of endearment for girls, women, and even effeminate men. Kitty, as another synonym for the vagina, probably came about from pussy. Interestingly, warm and furry is not the only association made between cats and women. The word puss has both positive and negative connotations.

Applied to a girl or woman from c. 1600, originally in a negative sense, implying unpleasant cat-like qualities; but by mid-19c. in affectionate use.

The puss in "sourpuss" is not being used in the same sense though as it comes from the Irish word pus meaning lip or mouth and often used to also mean "face".

Some bonus curiosities I found while I was looking into this:

• "To trot out one's pussy" is a phrase meaning "to receive a man sexually"; make of that what you will!
• A "khaki pussy" is an expression for a military man who offers his comrades sexual services "with his ass".
• Similarly, a "yonic man" (see yoni) is one who likes to be "penetrated during intercourse".

Tags:

• etymology
• English
• Language
• linguistics
• slang

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