Standard Lemma guide

civet

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈsɪ.vɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪvɪt
  • CMU ARPABET: S IH1 V AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of the small carnivorous catlike mammals encompassing certain species from the families Viverridae, Eupleridae, and Nandiniidae, native to tropical Africa and Asia.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: civet cat

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The musky perfume produced by the animal; civetone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A spotted skunk.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, countable, regional, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A ringtail (Bassariscus astutus).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, countable, regional, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

cat-like mammal typically secreting musk used in perfumes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: civet cat

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: viverrine, viverrine mammal

Narrower terms: large civet, Viverra zibetha, small civet, Viverricula indica, Viverricula malaccensis, binturong, bearcat, Arctictis bintourong, Cryptoprocta, genus Cryptoprocta, fanaloka, Fossa fossa, banded palm civet, Hemigalus hardwickii, palm cat, palm civet

History

Etymology

From French civette, from Italian zibetto, from Medieval Latin zibethum, from Arabic زَبَاد (zabād).

Across languages

Translations

93 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: siwet — cat-like animal
  • Afrikaans: siwetkat — cat-like animal
  • Arabic: زَبَاد (zabād) — cat-like animal
  • Assamese: জহামলা (zôhamola) — cat-like animal
  • Assamese: জহামাল (zôhamal) — cat-like animal
  • West Coast Bajau: puju — cat-like animal
  • Bau Bidayuh: musang — cat-like animal
  • Bulgarian: цибет (cibet) — cat-like animal
  • Catalan: civeta — cat-like animal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 麝貓 /麝猫 (shèmāo) — cat-like animal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 麝香貓 /麝香猫 (shèxiāngmāo) — cat-like animal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 靈貓 /灵猫 (língmāo) — cat-like animal
  • Czech: cibetka — cat-like animal
  • Dutch: civetkat — cat-like animal
  • Esperanto: zibeto — cat-like animal
  • Estonian: tsiibet — cat-like animal
  • Finnish: sivettikissa — cat-like animal
  • Finnish: sivetti — cat-like animal
  • French: civette — cat-like animal
  • Georgian: აფრიკული ვივერა (apriḳuli vivera) — cat-like animal
  • Georgian: ციბეტა (cibeṭa) — cat-like animal
  • Georgian: ციბეტინი (cibeṭini) — cat-like animal
  • German: Zibetkatze — cat-like animal
  • Greek: μοσχογαλή η κιβέττη (moschogalí i kivétti) — cat-like animal
  • Gujarati: જબાદી બિલાડી (jabādī bilāḍī) — cat-like animal
  • Hindi: मुश्क बिलाई (muśk bilāī) — cat-like animal
  • Hindi: मुश्कबिलाव (muśkabilāv) — cat-like animal
  • Hindi: गंधबिलाव (gandhbilāv) — cat-like animal
  • Hindi: गन्धमार्जार (gandhamārjār) — cat-like animal
  • Hindi: जुबाद (jubād) — cat-like animal
  • Hindi: कस्तूरी बिलाव (kastūrī bilāv) — cat-like animal
  • Hungarian: cibetmacska — cat-like animal
  • Indonesian: musang — cat-like animal
  • Iraqw: qaynai — cat-like animal
  • Italian: zibetto — cat-like animal
  • Japanese: 麝香猫 (jakōneko) — cat-like animal
  • Japanese: 霊猫 (reibyō) — cat-like animal
  • Javanese: rasé — cat-like animal
  • Kannada: ಪುನುಗು ಬೆಕ್ಕು (punugu bekku) — cat-like animal
  • Karang: bayti̧w — cat-like animal
  • Khmer: សំពោច (sɑmpouc) — cat-like animal
  • Kimaragang: kaka'a — cat-like animal
  • Korean: 사향고양이 (sahyanggoyang'i) — cat-like animal
  • Lithuanian: civeta — cat-like animal
  • Malagasy: alazy — cat-like animal
  • Malay: musang — cat-like animal
  • Malay: luak — cat-like animal
  • Tagal Murut: binangki' — cat-like animal
  • Tagal Murut: munin — cat-like animal
  • Njyem: jwɔb — cat-like animal
  • Nkonya: tsamboyi — cat-like animal
  • Oromo: tirenye — cat-like animal
  • Persian: گربه زباد (gorbe-ye zabâd) — cat-like animal
  • Persian: زباد (zabâd) — cat-like animal
  • Polish: cyweta — cat-like animal
  • Portuguese: civeta — cat-like animal
  • Portuguese: gato-de-algália — cat-like animal
  • Romanian: zibetă — cat-like animal
  • Russian: виве́рра (vivérra) — cat-like animal
  • Russian: циве́тта (civétta) — cat-like animal
  • Sanskrit: गन्धमार्जार (gandhamārjāra) — cat-like animal
  • Sanskrit: गन्धमृग (gandhamṛga) — cat-like animal
  • Sebop: pugah — cat-like animal
  • Senoufo Djimini: cɛnpige — cat-like animal
  • Spanish: civeta — cat-like animal
  • Swahili: ngawa — cat-like animal
  • Tagalog: alamid — cat-like animal
  • Telugu: పునుగుపిల్లి (punugupilli) — cat-like animal
  • Termanu: kue — cat-like animal
  • Thai: ชะมด (chá-mót) — cat-like animal
  • Turkish: misk kedisi — cat-like animal
  • Vietnamese: cầy — cat-like animal
  • Yoruba: ẹtà — cat-like animal
  • Assamese: জহামলা (zôhamola) — perfume
  • Assamese: জহামাল (zôhamal) — perfume
  • Catalan: algàlia — perfume
  • Chinese Mandarin: 麝貓香 /麝猫香 (shèmāoxiāng) — perfume
  • Finnish: sivetti — perfume
  • German: Zibet — perfume
  • Greek: μόσχος (móschos) — perfume
  • Hindi: जुबाद (jubād) — perfume
  • Javanese: dhèdhès — perfume
  • Kannada: ಪುನುಗು (punugu) — perfume
  • Persian: زباد (zabâd) — perfume
  • Persian: غالیه (ġâliye) — perfume
  • Polish: cywet — perfume
  • Portuguese: algália — perfume
  • Russian: цибети́н (cibetín) — perfume
  • Spanish: almizcle — perfume
  • Sundanese: jebad — perfume
  • Swahili: zabadi — perfume
  • Swedish: sibet — perfume
  • Swedish: sibetolja — perfume