Clan terminology

This is a collection of terms used by the Clan cats in their talk.

General Terms

 * Crowfood or crow-food – A dead prey animal that has begun to rot. Can also be used as an insult (see below)
 * Cutter – A veterinarian, specifically, though not always, referring to one that spays or neuters cats
 * Fresh-kill – A recently killed prey animal caught for the purpose of consumption. Fresh-kill is hunted by warriors and apprentices, and given first to the elders, then the queens, and finally warriors and apprentices, then extras are put on the fresh-kill pile
 * Gathering – The monthly meeting of all the Clans held at places assigned as zones of truce when the moon is full
 * Greenleaf Twolegplace – A place frequented by Twolegs during summer, such as a resort or camping spot.
 * Halfbridge – A boat dock. Term was first used by Squirrelflight when Brambleclaw's patrol was exploring the new territory in Starlight
 * Horseplace – A horse ranch or stables
 * Hunting Patrol – A group of cats hunting for fresh-kill to bring back for their Clan to eat
 * Kittypet – A cat kept as pet by Twolegs
 * Loner – A cat that lives by itself and doesn't defend its territory; not hostile to Clan cats
 * Making Dirt - Equal to going to the bathroom for a human
 * Monster – A vehicle operated by humans. Examples include cars, trucks, tractors, and ATVs. Motorboats are sometimes referred to as water-monsters
 * Moonpool – The place near the Lake where medicine cats and leaders share tongues with StarClan
 * Moonstone – The place in the Forest where medicine cats and leaders share tongues with StarClan
 * Mothermouth - The opening to the cave where the Moonstone is located
 * Rogue – A usually hostile cat who does not have a permanent home, that roams around, and does not care about crossing Clan boundaries
 * Sharing Tongues – Cats grooming each other, while sharing the latest gossip. A cat lies on the ground, talking, while the other grooms their fur, listening
 * Silverpelt – The large swath of stars in the sky (believed in fandom to be the Milky Way). These stars are a direct representation of StarClan
 * Tree-eater – A bulldozer
 * Thunderpath – A paved road. Monsters use them to travel. Thunderpaths have an extremely acrid smell. One Thunderpath, called Windover Road by Twolegs, separated ThunderClan and ShadowClan in the Old Territories
 * Twoleg – A human
 * Twoleg kit – A human child
 * Twoleg nest – A human's house
 * Twolegplace – A town, city or village where twolegs permanetly live.

Time Terms

 * Newleaf - The season of spring
 * Greenleaf - The season of summer
 * Leaf-fall - The season of autumn or fall
 * Leaf-bare - The season of winter
 * Moon - The time between one full moon and the next, spanning 28 days
 * Moonhigh - Midnight
 * Half-Moon - About two weeks, half a month
 * Quarter-Moon - About a week
 * Sunhigh - The point during the day when the sun is highest in the sky; noon
 * Sunrise - One day in cat time (i.e.: One sunrise ago)
 * Season - One-fourth of a year in cat time. Four seasons equal a year
 * Heartbeat- a split second

Distance Terms

 * Fox-length - About the length of a fox; approximately a yard
 * Kit-hop - how far a kit can hop, about 3 centimeters (?)


 * Tail-length - About the length of a cat's tail; approximately a foot
 * Rabbit hop - About a foot and a half away
 * Mouse-tail - About an inch
 * Mouse-length - About two or three inches
 * Pawprint - About the length of a cat's paw; approximately three and a half inches
 * Pawstep - About the length of a cat's step, roughly six inches
 * Tree-length - About the length of a tree; around 40 to 50 feet.

Insults & Exclamations

 * As much use as a dead fox- A (harsh) insult meaning the recipient is useless, Leopardstar describes Darkstripe with this insult


 * Crowfood - A (harsh) insult comparing the recipient to rotting prey animals (as in I'll turn you into crowfood!), or suggesting that they eat them (as in crowfood-eater)
 * Fishface, fishfur or fish-breath - An insult used against RiverClan warriors, mainly appears in Bluestar's Prophecy
 * Fox-dung - A (harsh) insult comparing the recipient to fox feces. Also used as an exclamation (as in That's fox-dung!)
 * Hedgehogs will fly - An exclamation style statement that shows disbelief that a certain event will likely occur (as in That will happen when hedgehogs fly), used in many variations. Somewhat like the human phrase When pigs fly!
 * You fight / hunt like a kittypet! - a expression used to make fun of someone who fights or hunts poorly
 * Mouse-brain - A (friendly-harsh) insult. Severity of the insult is almost always decided by tone.
 * Mouse-dung - A (somewhat harsh) insult comparing the recipient to mouse feces. Also used as an exclamation (as in Mousedung! That can't be right!). Somewhat like "Darn it!"
 * Mouse-hearted - An insult that describes one who is cowardly.
 * Fox-hearted - An insult meaning cruel, cold-hearted, or evil (as in fox-hearted Twolegs).
 * Sorry catches no prey or Sorry fills no bellies - Means cats can be sorry, but that will not undo what happened
 * Bees in your brain - An exclamation meaning a confused or a cat not making sense (i.e. You've got bees in your brain!)
 * I don't give a mousetail - An exclamation meaning that the cat does not care. Another variation is I would ____ for a couple of mousetails meaning that they are willing to do the inserted action for no real reward
 * Great StarClan! - An exclamation used to signify extreme surprise or anger. Similar to Oh My God! in usage and to the fact that they both have mention of a higher force
 * StarClan's kits! – An exclamation of surprise or disbelief. Sometimes used as an exclamation if a cat is hurt.
 * What in StarClan's name?- A exclamation similar to "What on earth?" or "What in the world?"
 * (Only) StarClan knows (what) - Sometimes used to answer a question that is impossible to answer. Similar to "Only God knows what", ""Only God knows", and "God knows."
 * Furball - A friendly or harsh insult for a cat (as in stupid furball, bossy furball or lazy furball)
 * Doesn't matter a whisker - An exclamation meaning the cat does not care, (i.e. it didn't matter a whisker that she didn't share their beliefs) similar to I don't give a mousetail

Living Spaces

 * Camp - The place where a Clan makes their permanent home.
 * Leader's Den - The den in camp that belongs to the Clan leader.
 * Medicine Cat's Den - The den in camp that belongs to the Clan's medicine cat and his or her apprentice. Sometimes referred to as the Medicine Den
 * Warriors' Den - The den in camp that is shared between the warriors of that Clan
 * Apprentices' Den - The den in camp that is shared between the apprentices of that Clan
 * Elders' Den - The den in camp that is shared between the elders of that Clan
 * Nursery - The den in camp that is shared by the queens and kits of that Clan
 * Dirtplace – The place near, but not in the camp, where the cats go to the bathroom
 * Fresh-kill pile – The place, usually in the center of the camp, where the warriors drop the prey they caught while hunting, so it is easily accessible to all the cats in the Clan

Clan Ranks

 * Kit - A kitten younger than six moons
 * Apprentice - A cat at least six moons old, and training to be a warrior (or a medicine cat)
 * Warrior - A mature cat who has completed their warrior training. A she-cat is considered a warrior when she does not have kits
 * Mentor - A warrior who is currently training an apprentice
 * Queen - A she-cat with kits to take care of or who is pregnant with kits
 * Elder - An elderly cat who cannot hunt or fight any more. Elders are greatly honored and respected by their Clan for all the effort and hard work they have given to help the Clan prosper
 * Medicine Cat - A cat who heals injuries, who is skilled with herbs, leaves and natural cures and sometimes receives special signs or prophecies from StarClan
 * Deputy - A warrior who is second in command to the leader, helping him or her in their tasks and replacing them after their death or resignment
 * Leader - A cat who controls the entire Clan. Holding the most important rank in the Clan, a leader is granted nine lives by StarClan so they "can be first in every battle," basically giving them extra time to serve and lead their Clan