A tabby is a cat whose fur carries a pattern of darker stripes, swirls or spots over a lighter background — most often the classic brown-grey cat with dark bars down its sides and rings round its tail, and nearly always an M shape on the forehead.

A tabby is a cat whose fur carries a pattern of darker stripes, swirls or spots over a lighter backgroundtabby 是一種毛色帶著深色條紋、漩渦或斑點、底色較淺的貓 most often the classic brown-grey cat with dark bars down its sides and rings round its tail最常見的是經典的棕灰色貓，身側有深色條紋，尾巴上有一圈圈環紋 and nearly always an M shape on the forehead而且額頭上幾乎都有個 M 字形。

The important thing, and the thing learners rarely guess, is that tabby is not a breed. It is a coat pattern, and cats of many different breeds, plus most ordinary street cats, can be tabbies.

The important thing, and the thing learners rarely guess重要的一點，也是學習者很少猜到的一點 is that tabby is not a breed是 tabby 不是一個品種。It is a coat pattern它是一種毛色花紋 and cats of many different breeds很多不同品種的貓 plus most ordinary street cats加上大部分的一般街貓 can be tabbies都可能是 tabby。

So 'What breed is she?' 'She's a tabby' is a slightly loose answer that everyone accepts anyway. The word works as a noun ('we've got two tabbies') and as an adjective before a noun ('a tabby cat', 'a tabby kitten').

So 'What breed is she?'所以問「她是什麼品種？」 'She's a tabby'回答「她是 tabby」 is a slightly loose answer that everyone accepts anyway是個不太精確、但大家都能接受的答案。The word works as a noun這個字可以當名詞 ('we've got two tabbies')（像「we've got two tabbies」） and as an adjective before a noun也可以放在名詞前面當形容詞 ('a tabby cat', 'a tabby kitten')（像「a tabby cat」「a tabby kitten」）。

It is an everyday word, not a technical one, though cat breeders do use it precisely and even name the sub-patterns — mackerel tabby for straight stripes, classic tabby for wide swirls, spotted tabby for spots.

It is an everyday word, not a technical one這是個日常用字，不是專業術語 though cat breeders do use it precisely不過育種者確實會精確地使用它 and even name the sub-patterns甚至還幫子花紋分別取名 mackerel tabby for straight stripesmackerel tabby 指直條紋 classic tabby for wide swirlsclassic tabby 指大漩渦紋 spotted tabby for spotsspotted tabby 指斑點紋。

In older English 'tabby' sometimes meant specifically a female cat, and older still it was the name of a kind of striped silk cloth; you may meet those meanings in old books, but nobody uses them now. There is also a dated and unkind use of 'old tabby' for a gossiping older woman — worth recognising, best not repeated.

In older English 'tabby' sometimes meant specifically a female cat在較舊的英文裡，tabby 有時候特指母貓 and older still it was the name of a kind of striped silk cloth更早以前它是一種條紋絲綢的名字 you may meet those meanings in old books你可能會在舊書裡遇到這些意思 but nobody uses them now但現在沒有人這樣用了。There is also a dated and unkind use of 'old tabby'還有一個過時又帶點惡意的用法「old tabby」 for a gossiping older woman指愛講八卦的老婦人 worth recognising, best not repeated值得認得，但最好不要跟著用。