Catgirl

A catgirl is a type of anthropomorphic female cat commonly found in some genres of anime. Catgirls vary in their appearance and mannerisms from series to series, but at minimum will usually have feline ears. They often also have a cat's tail, and sometimes have other feline features as well.

In Japanese, catgirls are usually nekomimi - literally, "cat ears". Nekomusume - 'cat girl' appears only occasionally, as in the anime series All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku-Nuku (which stars a quite different type of catgirl then described here.)