Why "michi"?

What does "michi" mean?

    by Jorge

 

The word “michi”, used affectionately for cats, originated from the sounds Spaniards made to call these animals when they arrived to the American Continent. Indigenous people associated those calls, like “mishi”, with the animal’s name, and the term evolved into the endearing “michi” for cats. 

Detailed Origin of “michi”:

1. Arrival of cats in America
In the 16th century, Spaniards brought domestic cats to the continent, mainly aboard ships during the conquest (in Spanish 1).

2. Sounds used to call cats
They often used noises like “mishi, mishi” (comparable to calling a cat today with “psss, psss”). Indigenous peoples heard these repetitive sounds and assumed it was the cat’s name (in Spanish 2).

3. Association and adaptation
Native populations began referring to the cat as “michi” in their own speech, adopting and adapting the sound as an actual name for the animal.

4. Linguistic evolution
Over time, the word spread and became a widely used, affectionate term for cats, from coastal regions to various Latin American cultures (in Spanish 3).

5. Influence of indigenous languages
There are strikingly similar words in several Mexican indigenous languages that mean “cat” or feline (in Spanish 4):

• Otomí: mixi

• Maya: miis

• Purépecha: misitu

• Tarahumara: míisi

• Náhuatl: miztli (often referring to wild cats like jaguars)

  These phonetic resemblances suggest cultural and linguistic intermingling rather than pure coincidence. 

Summary

In essence, “michi” combines:

• The Spanish onomatopoeic call (“mishi”) used to attract cats aboard ships

• With similar-sounding indigenous words for felines across Mexico and Central America, leading to a hybrid, affectionate term that became part of popular speech

Today, “michi” is recognized by the Dictionary of Americanisms as a common affectionate term for domestic cats in Latin American Spanish. We all love michis!

Special Thanks

This game wouldn't have been possible without the colaboration of friends and family, who shared with me the pictures of their michis and some of them were the testers of Saving the Michi AR.

Michis in the game

In the blog there will be a specific post for each michi that collaborated in the making of Saving the Michi AR, however, in this section I will give a small introduction to each michi, making a special remark to their humans that shared the pictures with me to make this game. All the michis are the stars of the game!

Alex 

Alex's human is from Mother Russia, a long time internet friend that happily shared the pictures of Alex to be one of the stars in the game. 

Jude and Nata 

They are the michis of a Spanish friend, Jude is her new cat and Nata was with her human for 16 years. Both recieve/d a lot of love from her human.

Chabelita 

Chabelita's human is from Mexico and an eye surgeon, a very interesting work. Chabelita is one of the furriest michis in the game and her eyes are very expressive. You can notice that in the pictures in the game.

Salem, Gatell, Wero and Torta 

Their human is from also from Mexico, a long time friend from university who has a huge love towards animals in general. All the michis he has are adopted, through adoption centers or recued directly from the streets.

Kiwi 

Kiwi is the cat of a family member, shes one of the youngest michis in the game and she is the baby girl of their humans. Very playful and possesses amazing stealth skills. A total unit for hunting if she wants it.

Naruto 

Naruto is another michi that no longer is with us in this Earth. Naruto's human is a medic who grew with him and gave him all the love of the world. Playful michi who loved take long naps in his senior years.

Señora Pancha and Ramona

One of the confirmed michis with pedigree in this game, a Blue Russian cat whose eyes immediatly catch you when she sees you right into the eyes. She's also one of the youngest michis in the game. She's been treated with love and delicious food. As all the michis in this Saving the Michi AR.

Ramona is Señora Pancha's older and step-sister. She's very lovely and immediatly accepted Señora Pancha as the new member of the family.

Tripa and Trapo

They are siblings. Living daily adventures that consist on manipulating their humans to feed them every 2 minutes, playing around the house, receiving love and doing shenanigans. Tripa never misses a change to meet new humans while Trapos is more reserved and he doesn't accept you that easily in his life. They are both adorable whatsoever.

Leo and Mickey

They are brothers, orange cats that ressemble a lot to Garfield: they are orange, they love to sleep and eating human food. I'm not sure they hate Mondays. Always willing to help each other, these brothers only have love to give.

Michis of the city

There are cats in the game that belong to the wild, but surrounded with humans that most probably feed them, since these cats look good and healthy. They didn't approach to be petted in their backs, but they looked equally adorable!

 Thanks for reading and enjoy discovering the pictures of all the michis in this post by playing Saving the Michi AR! Thanks for reading.