"cățel"

Translation: puppy

[Tony713682]

cățel actually should translate as pup. Puppy is simply the diminutive of pup
As an adult you would say the ❤❤❤❤❤ has a pup or pups, a child would be more likely to say puppies. Both should be accepted

[splittongue]

Yes, cățel=pup, if you are nitpicker and you want puppy, then the right Romanian word is cățeluș. They are both common and can be used interchangeable. A small or young dog is cățel, a small AND young, or very small, or very young, dog is cățeluș. However all of pup, puppy, little dog, doggie, etc. should be accepted. If not, you should report it. A guy who tells on friends/colleagues, etc, is also cățel, in pejorative sense.

[KbraBass]

"whelp" would also be correct as the offspring of "bitches" (or "dams") and "sires". Ohh and "Doggy" or "Doggie" can also be found on some dictionaries.

[OsoGegenHest]

No, "puppy" predates "pup", which is a shortening. You're being a snob.

[gorn61]

Not in British English. In Br Eng, puppy = young dog.

[illexsquid]

Same in American English. I live near the sea, and when people talk of "pups" I think they are talking about seals.

[cebalanguages]

I guess from Latin "catellus", like Spanish and Portuguese "cachorro". Anyone can confirm?

[cosmo-pedant]

cebalanguages - As xavi75724 confirms "cachorro" seems to mean pup/puppy in Portuguese. Nice connection to the Latin! Note that there is an obvious similarity between "caine" (with the ["hat"] diacritic on the "a") in Romanian, and what, I believe, is a Brazilian Portuguese word for dog, that is, "cao" (with a tilde diacritic above the "a", thereby nasalizing that diphthong). [In other words, caine almost sounds like cao.]

[xavi75724]

Yes. It is so.

[xavi75724]

It is very similar to the Catalan word for young animals "cadell"

[MortimerCat]

As I was told off for forgetting the accents and putting just catel, I wondered what natives see if i just wrote "catel"? Do they still read it as puppy or does the lack of accent change its meaning?

[splittongue]

In context, there is no confusion, everybody will understand it. As the word "catel" (without diacritics) does not exist in Romanian, most of the people will realize its meaning even if without diacritics and out of context. For other words which may have different meaning, it will be confuse, but it is not the case here. One example coming to mind is "fata" and "fața" ori "față", hilarious constructions may result if you omit the diacritics, like for example "I am looking inside of your girl" (instead of "looking to your face").

[Phil856822]

My Romanian girlfriend tells me it actually means "small dog"

[twovectors]

In my part of the country we use cățel for mature dogs as well. Am I the only one?