"cater-corner" meaning in English

See cater-corner in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈkatəˌkɔːnə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈkeɪtəˌkɔːnə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈkætəˌkɔɹnɚ/ [General-American] Audio: En-us-cater-corner.oga [US]
Etymology: Presumably a clipped form of cater-cornered, from cater + cornered, q.v., although catty-cornered is attested earlier (1838). Etymology templates: {{m|en|cater-cornered}} cater-cornered, {{compound|en|cater|cornered|id1=diagonally}} cater + cornered, {{m|en|catty-cornered}} catty-cornered Head templates: {{en-adj|-}} cater-corner (not comparable)
  1. (US, Canada) Of or pertaining to something at a diagonal to another; of four corners, those diagonal to another. Tags: Canada, US, not-comparable
    Sense id: en-cater-corner-en-adj-xZ48iuo1 Categories (other): American English, Canadian English
  2. (UK dialect, obsolete) Uneven, not square, as mislaid stones or people with a limping gait. Tags: UK, dialectal, not-comparable, obsolete
    Sense id: en-cater-corner-en-adj-S5JYF6DI Categories (other): British English
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: catacorner, catercorner, catty-corner, kitty-corner

Adverb

IPA: /ˈkatəˌkɔːnə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈkeɪtəˌkɔːnə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈkætəˌkɔɹnɚ/ [General-American] Audio: En-us-cater-corner.oga [US]
Etymology: Presumably a clipped form of cater-cornered, from cater + cornered, q.v., although catty-cornered is attested earlier (1838). Etymology templates: {{m|en|cater-cornered}} cater-cornered, {{compound|en|cater|cornered|id1=diagonally}} cater + cornered, {{m|en|catty-cornered}} catty-cornered Head templates: {{en-adv|-}} cater-corner (not comparable)
  1. (US, Canada) Diagonally across from. Tags: Canada, US, not-comparable Related terms: cattywampus, catawampus, kittywampus Translations (diagonally across): skråt overfor (Danish), kulmittain vastapäätä (Finnish), schräg gegenüber (German), διαγωνίως (diagoníos) (Greek), διαγώνια (diagónia) (Greek), 斜め (naname) (Japanese), на́искось (náiskosʹ) [neuter] (Russian), наискосо́к (naiskosók) [neuter] (Russian), en contraesquina (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-cater-corner-en-adv-LXy8gYK3 Categories (other): American English, Canadian English Derived forms: catty-corner, cattycorner, caddy-corner, katty-corner, catty-cornered, cattycornered, caddy-cornered, katty-cornered, kitty-corner, kittycorner, kitty-cornered, kittycornered
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: catacorner, catercorner, catty-corner, kitty-corner

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for cater-corner meaning in English (6.0kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cater-cornered"
      },
      "expansion": "cater-cornered",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cater",
        "3": "cornered",
        "id1": "diagonally"
      },
      "expansion": "cater + cornered",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "catty-cornered"
      },
      "expansion": "catty-cornered",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Presumably a clipped form of cater-cornered, from cater + cornered, q.v., although catty-cornered is attested earlier (1838).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "cater-corner (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The Empire State Building and the old Altman's Department store are catercorner, at Fifth Avenue and East 34th Street, with the ESB at the southwest, and Altman's at the northeast."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Stephen King, chapter 20, in 11/22/63, page 531",
          "text": "From my living room, I trained my binoculars on the redbrick monstrosity catercorner from me.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of or pertaining to something at a diagonal to another; of four corners, those diagonal to another."
      ],
      "id": "en-cater-corner-en-adj-xZ48iuo1",
      "links": [
        [
          "diagonal",
          "diagonal"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, Canada) Of or pertaining to something at a diagonal to another; of four corners, those diagonal to another."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Uneven, not square, as mislaid stones or people with a limping gait."
      ],
      "id": "en-cater-corner-en-adj-S5JYF6DI",
      "links": [
        [
          "Uneven",
          "uneven"
        ],
        [
          "not",
          "not"
        ],
        [
          "square",
          "square"
        ],
        [
          "mislaid",
          "mislaid"
        ],
        [
          "stone",
          "stone"
        ],
        [
          "people",
          "people"
        ],
        [
          "limping",
          "limping"
        ],
        [
          "gait",
          "gait"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK dialect, obsolete) Uneven, not square, as mislaid stones or people with a limping gait."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "dialectal",
        "not-comparable",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkatəˌkɔːnə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪtəˌkɔːnə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkætəˌkɔɹnɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-cater-corner.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9a/En-us-cater-corner.oga/En-us-cater-corner.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/En-us-cater-corner.oga",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "catacorner"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "catercorner"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "catty-corner"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "kitty-corner"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cater-corner"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cater-cornered"
      },
      "expansion": "cater-cornered",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cater",
        "3": "cornered",
        "id1": "diagonally"
      },
      "expansion": "cater + cornered",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "catty-cornered"
      },
      "expansion": "catty-cornered",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Presumably a clipped form of cater-cornered, from cater + cornered, q.v., although catty-cornered is attested earlier (1838).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "cater-corner (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "catty-corner"
        },
        {
          "word": "cattycorner"
        },
        {
          "word": "caddy-corner"
        },
        {
          "word": "katty-corner"
        },
        {
          "word": "catty-cornered"
        },
        {
          "word": "cattycornered"
        },
        {
          "word": "caddy-cornered"
        },
        {
          "word": "katty-cornered"
        },
        {
          "word": "kitty-corner"
        },
        {
          "word": "kittycorner"
        },
        {
          "word": "kitty-cornered"
        },
        {
          "word": "kittycornered"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Altman's is sited catercorner to the ESB."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Diagonally across from."
      ],
      "id": "en-cater-corner-en-adv-LXy8gYK3",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, Canada) Diagonally across from."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "cattywampus"
        },
        {
          "word": "catawampus"
        },
        {
          "word": "kittywampus"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "diagonally across",
          "word": "skråt overfor"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "diagonally across",
          "word": "kulmittain vastapäätä"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "diagonally across",
          "word": "schräg gegenüber"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "diagoníos",
          "sense": "diagonally across",
          "word": "διαγωνίως"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "diagónia",
          "sense": "diagonally across",
          "word": "διαγώνια"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "naname",
          "sense": "diagonally across",
          "word": "斜め"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "náiskosʹ",
          "sense": "diagonally across",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "на́искось"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "naiskosók",
          "sense": "diagonally across",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "наискосо́к"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "diagonally across",
          "word": "en contraesquina"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkatəˌkɔːnə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪtəˌkɔːnə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkætəˌkɔɹnɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-cater-corner.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9a/En-us-cater-corner.oga/En-us-cater-corner.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/En-us-cater-corner.oga",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "catacorner"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "catercorner"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "catty-corner"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "kitty-corner"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cater-corner"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cater-cornered"
      },
      "expansion": "cater-cornered",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cater",
        "3": "cornered",
        "id1": "diagonally"
      },
      "expansion": "cater + cornered",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "catty-cornered"
      },
      "expansion": "catty-cornered",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Presumably a clipped form of cater-cornered, from cater + cornered, q.v., although catty-cornered is attested earlier (1838).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "cater-corner (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The Empire State Building and the old Altman's Department store are catercorner, at Fifth Avenue and East 34th Street, with the ESB at the southwest, and Altman's at the northeast."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Stephen King, chapter 20, in 11/22/63, page 531",
          "text": "From my living room, I trained my binoculars on the redbrick monstrosity catercorner from me.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of or pertaining to something at a diagonal to another; of four corners, those diagonal to another."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "diagonal",
          "diagonal"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, Canada) Of or pertaining to something at a diagonal to another; of four corners, those diagonal to another."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English dialectal terms",
        "English terms with obsolete senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Uneven, not square, as mislaid stones or people with a limping gait."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Uneven",
          "uneven"
        ],
        [
          "not",
          "not"
        ],
        [
          "square",
          "square"
        ],
        [
          "mislaid",
          "mislaid"
        ],
        [
          "stone",
          "stone"
        ],
        [
          "people",
          "people"
        ],
        [
          "limping",
          "limping"
        ],
        [
          "gait",
          "gait"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK dialect, obsolete) Uneven, not square, as mislaid stones or people with a limping gait."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "dialectal",
        "not-comparable",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkatəˌkɔːnə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪtəˌkɔːnə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkætəˌkɔɹnɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-cater-corner.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9a/En-us-cater-corner.oga/En-us-cater-corner.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/En-us-cater-corner.oga",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "catacorner"
    },
    {
      "word": "catercorner"
    },
    {
      "word": "catty-corner"
    },
    {
      "word": "kitty-corner"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cater-corner"
}

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "catty-corner"
    },
    {
      "word": "cattycorner"
    },
    {
      "word": "caddy-corner"
    },
    {
      "word": "katty-corner"
    },
    {
      "word": "catty-cornered"
    },
    {
      "word": "cattycornered"
    },
    {
      "word": "caddy-cornered"
    },
    {
      "word": "katty-cornered"
    },
    {
      "word": "kitty-corner"
    },
    {
      "word": "kittycorner"
    },
    {
      "word": "kitty-cornered"
    },
    {
      "word": "kittycornered"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cater-cornered"
      },
      "expansion": "cater-cornered",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cater",
        "3": "cornered",
        "id1": "diagonally"
      },
      "expansion": "cater + cornered",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "catty-cornered"
      },
      "expansion": "catty-cornered",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Presumably a clipped form of cater-cornered, from cater + cornered, q.v., although catty-cornered is attested earlier (1838).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "cater-corner (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "cattywampus"
    },
    {
      "word": "catawampus"
    },
    {
      "word": "kittywampus"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Altman's is sited catercorner to the ESB."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Diagonally across from."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, Canada) Diagonally across from."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkatəˌkɔːnə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪtəˌkɔːnə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkætəˌkɔɹnɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-cater-corner.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9a/En-us-cater-corner.oga/En-us-cater-corner.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/En-us-cater-corner.oga",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "catacorner"
    },
    {
      "word": "catercorner"
    },
    {
      "word": "catty-corner"
    },
    {
      "word": "kitty-corner"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "diagonally across",
      "word": "skråt overfor"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "diagonally across",
      "word": "kulmittain vastapäätä"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "diagonally across",
      "word": "schräg gegenüber"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "diagoníos",
      "sense": "diagonally across",
      "word": "διαγωνίως"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "diagónia",
      "sense": "diagonally across",
      "word": "διαγώνια"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "naname",
      "sense": "diagonally across",
      "word": "斜め"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "náiskosʹ",
      "sense": "diagonally across",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "на́искось"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "naiskosók",
      "sense": "diagonally across",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "наискосо́к"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "diagonally across",
      "word": "en contraesquina"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cater-corner"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-03-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-03-01 using wiktextract (68773ab and 5f6ddbb). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.