pussy

{{11}}pussy (1) "cat," 1726, dim. of PUSS (Cf. puss) (1), also used of a rabbit (1715). As a term of endearment for a girl or woman, from 1580s (also used of effeminate men). Pussy willow is from 1869, on notion of "soft and furry."

{{12}}pussy (2) slang for "female pudenda," 1879, but probably older; perhaps from O.N. puss "pocket, pouch" (Cf. Low Ger. puse "vulva"), but perhaps instead from the cat word (see PUSSY (Cf. pussy) (1)) on notion of "soft, warm, furry thing;" Cf. Fr. le chat, which also has a double meaning, feline and genital. Earlier uses are difficult to distinguish from pussy (1), e.g.:

The word pussie is now used of a woman [Philip Stubbes, "The Anatomie of Abuses," 1583]

But the use of pussy as a term of endearment argues against the vaginal sense being generally known before late 19c., e.g.:

"What do you think, pussy?" said her father to Eva. [Harriet Beecher Stowe, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," 1852]

Pussy-whipped first attested 1956.