Meaning

noun a cat with a grey or tawny coat mottled with black

noun female cat

adjective having a grey or brown streak or a pattern or a patchy coloring; used especially of the patterned fur of cats

originMid 17th century French tabis, from Arabic عَتَّابِيّ (ʕattābiyy), ultimately from Arabic الْعَتَّابِيَّة (al-ʕattābiyya), a quarter of Baghdad (named for a Prince عَتَّاب (ʕattāb)) which is associated with the manufacture of a certain type of waved silk. See also taffeta, another type of silk whose name derives from the Persian تافته (tâfta, “woven cloth”) and shares a similar etymological…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0