What is "qat"

n. (alternative form of khat English)

n. the leaves of the shrub Catha edulis which are chewed like tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric stimulant; "in Yemen kat is used daily by 85% of adults" [syn: kat, khat, quat, cat, Arabian tea, African tea]

Qat may refer to:

• Khat or Qat, a flowering plant native to the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
• Qat (deity), the principal god in the oral mythology of the Banks Islands
• QAT (Sindh), Qaumi awami terekh one of the principal parties in sindh province
• Qatar, ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code
• Quick Access Toolbar (QAT), a part of the graphical user interface in Microsoft Office

Qat (or Qet, Kpwet, Iqet, Ikpwet etc. – see below) is the principal god in the oral mythology of the Banks Islands, a small archipelago of northern Vanuatu, Melanesia.

Although Qat was never formally worshipped as a deity, the folklore of these once animist populations traditionally referred, and still does, to Qat as the spirit to whom we humans owe several elements of our culture: the world itself (in the form of the Torres and Banks archipelagoes); Night; Death; women; marriage rules and incest prohibition; as well as the song language in use throughout the area, locally known as "the language of Qat".

This mythological figure has connections with the god known as Tagaro in other parts of Vanuatu.