What does catercorner mean?
Catercorner means diagonal — describing something positioned at an opposing corner of a square or rectangular space rather than directly across from it. If a coffee shop sits catercorner to a bookstore, they occupy opposite corners of the same intersection, so reaching one from the other requires cutting diagonally rather than crossing straight over. The word functions as both an adjective and an adverb and belongs chiefly to American English, where it competes with the popular variants kitty-corner and catty-corner. Its spelling misleads: despite the feline-sounding opening, it has nothing to do with cats, deriving instead from the obsolete English dialect word 'cater', meaning four, borrowed from French 'quatre'. That makes it a distant relative of 'quarter'. Catercorner appears most often in casual talk about city grids — buildings, traffic, parking lots — giving speech about ordinary geography a touch of precision and charm.
In a diagonal position or direction; placed across from something at an opposing corner.
"Turn left at the light and the church will be catercorner across the intersection."
Situated diagonally opposite or set at a slanting angle within a rectangular space.
"The garden shed stands in the catercorner lot behind the main house."
Despite looking like it has something to do with cats, 'catercorner' actually comes from the French word for four — 'quatre' — making it a hidden cousin of 'quarter'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of catercorner
Catercorner comes from the now-obsolete dialectal English word 'cater', meaning the number four, which was borrowed from French 'quatre' (ultimately from Latin 'quattuor'). The original form was 'cater-cornered', meaning set at four corners or diagonally, first appearing in American English in the nineteenth century. It shares its ultimate root with words like 'quarter' and 'quartet', all tracing back through Old French to Latin.
How catercorner is actually used
Primarily American usage; in much of the US Midwest and South, 'kitty-corner' or 'catty-corner' is the more common form, while 'catercorner' itself is somewhat less frequent but fully standard. Informal register, common in everyday speech about street layouts and furniture placement.
Easily confused with catercorner
Catty-corner (also kitty-corner) is simply a regional variant of the same word meaning diagonal; the difference is pronunciation and regional preference, not meaning.
A corner is the point where two sides meet, while catercorner describes a diagonal relationship between two corners of a larger space.