tabby Definition

tabby
noun tabbies

1a. A usually grey or brown cat with darker stripes;

Form: tabby cat (also)
1b. Any female domestic cat.
2. A kind of silk with irregular wavy shiny markings.

adj

1. Characterized by dark stripes or wavy markings.

Thesaurus: striped, variegated, banded, mottled, streaked.

Etymology: 17c in sense 2: from French tabis, from Al-Attabiyah in Baghdad where the silk was first made; in sense 1b perhaps shortened from the female name Tabitha, as it is sometimes applied to old or elderly women, often thought to possess some cat-like qualities.