Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗To hoist (an anchor) by its ring so that it hangs at the cathead. · To flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails. · To vomit. · To go wandering at night.
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *kattuz Proto-West Germanic *kattu Old English catt Middle English cat English cat From Middle English cat, catte, from Old English catt (“male cat”), catte (“female cat”), from Proto-West Germanic *kattu, from Proto-Germanic *kattuz, generally thought to be from Late Latin cattus (“domestic cat”) (c. 350, Palladius), from Latin catta (c. 75 A.D., Martial), possibly from an Afroasiatic language. Doublet of gato. A loan from Afro-Asiatic into European languages would roughly match how the animal itself spread, as genetic studies suggest domestic cats first began to spread out of the Near East / Fertile Crescent during the Neolithic, especially after they became popular and domesticated in Egypt 4000 years ago; they were found in Greece and Italy later, 2500 years ago. However, every proposed source word has presented problems. Adolphe Pictet and many subsequent sources refer to Barabra (Nubian) [script needed] (kaddîska) and "Nouba" (Nobiin) ⲕⲁⲇⲓ̄ⲥ (kadīs, “kadīs”) as possible sources or cognates, but M. Lionel Bender says the Nubian word is a loan from Arabic قِطَّة (qiṭṭa), which has long been thought to be non-Arabic in origin. Jean-Paul Savignac suggests the Latin word is from an Egyptian precursor of Coptic ϣⲁⲩ (šau, “tomcat”) suffixed with feminine -t, but John Huehnergard says "the source … was clearly not Egyptian itself, where no analogous form is attested." It may be a wanderword. Kroonen says the word must have existed in Germanic from a very early date, as it shows morphological alternations, and suggests that it might have been borrowed from Uralic, compare Northern Sami gađfe (“female stoat”) and Hungarian hölgy (“stoat; lady, bride”) from Proto-Uralic *käďwä (“female (of a fur animal)”). Cognates Related to Scots cat (“cat”), North Frisian kaat, kaot, Kat, kåt (“cat”), Saterland Frisian Kat (“cat”), West Frisian kat (“cat”), Alemannic German Chats, Chatz, chatza, chatzu, chatzò, chàzzà, Kàtz (“cat”), Bavarian ckozza, Katz, khoze, kòtze (“cat”), Cimbrian katze, khatz, khatza (“cat”), Dutch kat (“cat”), German Katze (“cat”), German Low German Katt (“cat”), Luxembourgish Kaz (“cat”), Mòcheno kòtz (“cat”), Yiddish קאַץ (kats, “cat”), Danish kat (“cat”), Faroese køttur (“cat”), Icelandic köttur (“cat”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish katt (“cat”), Latin cattus, catus (“cat”), Aromanian cãtush (“cat”), French chat (“cat”), Occitan, Norman cat (“cat”), Portuguese, Spanish gato (“cat”), Breton kaz, kazh (“cat”), Cornish cath, kath (“cat”), Irish cat, cut (“cat”), Scottish Gaelic cat (“cat”), Welsh cath (“cat”), as well as Ancient Greek κάτα (káta), κάττα (kátta, “cat”), Greek γάτα (gáta, “cat”), Turkish kedi (“cat”), and from the same ultimate source Belarusian, Russian кот (kot, “cat”), Ukrainian кіт (kit, “cat”), Polish kot (“cat”), Kashubian kòt (“cat”), Latvian kaķis (“cat”), Lithuanian katė (“cat”), and more distantly Armenian կատու (katu, “cat”), Basque katu (“cat”), Georgian კატა (ḳaṭa, “cat”), Classical Syriac ܩܛܐ, ܩܛܘ (“cat”), Arabic قِطَّة (qiṭṭa, “cat”) alongside dialectal Maghrebi Arabic قَطُّوس (qaṭṭūs, “cat”) (from Berber, probably from Latin).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentioncatenm
- Inherited-form mentioncattang
- Inherited-form mention*kattugmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*kattuzgem-pro
- Derivation mentioncattala
- Cognate mentionϣⲁⲩcop
- Cognate mentioncatsco · cat
- Cognate mentionkaatfrr
- Cognate mentionKatstq · cat
- Cognate mentionkatfy · cat
- Cognate mentionChatsgsw
- Cognate mentionckozzabar
- Cognate mentionkatzecim
- Cognate mentionkatnl · cat
- Cognate mentionKatzede · cat
- Cognate mentionKazlb · cat
- Cognate mentionkòtzmhn · cat
- Cognate mentionקאַץyi · cat
- Cognate mentionkatda · cat
- Cognate mentionkøtturfo · cat
- Cognate mentionkötturis · cat
- Cognate mentionkattsv · cat
- Cognate mentioncattusla
- Cognate mentioncãtushrup · cat
- Cognate mentionchatfr · cat
- Cognate mentioncatnrf · cat
- Cognate mentiongatoes · cat
- Cognate mentionkazbr
- Cognate mentioncathkw
- Cognate mentioncatga
- Cognate mentioncatgd · cat
- Cognate mentioncathcy · cat
- Cognate mentionκάταgrc
- Cognate mentionγάταel · cat
- Cognate mentionkeditr · cat
- Cognate mentionкотru · cat
- Cognate mentionкітuk · cat
- Cognate mentionkotpl · cat
- Cognate mentionkòtcsb · cat
- Cognate mentionkaķislv · cat
- Cognate mentionkatėlt · cat
- Cognate mentionկատուhy · cat
- Cognate mentionkatueu · cat
- Cognate mentionკატაka · cat
- Cognate mentionܩܛܐsyc
- Cognate mentionقِطَّةar · cat
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "ety",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:cat",
"id": "feline",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Germanic *kattuz\nProto-West Germanic *kattu\nOld English catt\nMiddle English cat\nEnglish cat\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*kattu\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"catt\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"cat\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"cat\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"feline\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"cat\" id=\"English:_feline\">"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Middle English cat"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "catt",
"4": "",
"5": "male cat"
},
"expansion": "Old English catt (“male cat”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*kattu"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *kattu"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*kattuz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *kattuz"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la-lat",
"3": "cattus",
"4": "",
"5": "domestic cat"
},
"expansion": "Late Latin cattus (“domestic cat”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "catta"
},
"expansion": "Latin catta"
},
{
"name": "small",
"args": {
"1": "A.D."
},
"expansion": "A.D."
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "afa"
},
"expansion": "Afroasiatic"
},
{
"name": "dbt",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gato"
},
"expansion": "Doublet of gato"
},
{
"name": "noncog",
"args": {
"1": "ar",
"2": "قِطَّة"
},
"expansion": "Arabic قِطَّة (qiṭṭa)"
},
{
"name": "noncog",
"args": {
"1": "ar",
"2": "قِطَّة"
},
"expansion": "Arabic قِطَّة (qiṭṭa)"
},
{
"name": "noncog",
"args": {
"1": "ar",
"2": "سِنَّوْر"
},
"expansion": "Arabic سِنَّوْر (sinnawr)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cop",
"2": "ϣⲁⲩ",
"3": "",
"4": "tomcat"
},
"expansion": "Coptic ϣⲁⲩ (šau, “tomcat”)"
},
{
"name": "noncog",
"args": {
"1": "se",
"2": "gađfe",
"3": "",
"4": "female stoat"
},
"expansion": "Northern Sami gađfe (“female stoat”)"
},
{
"name": "noncog",
"args": {
"1": "hu",
"2": "hölgy",
"3": "",
"4": "stoat; lady, bride"
},
"expansion": "Hungarian hölgy (“stoat; lady, bride”)"
},
{
"name": "noncog",
"args": {
"1": "urj-pro",
"2": "*käďwä",
"3": "",
"4": "female (of a fur animal)"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Uralic *käďwä (“female (of a fur animal)”)"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "cog"
},
"expansion": "Cognates"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "cat",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Scots cat (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "kaat"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian kaat"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "Kat",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian Kat (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "kat",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian kat (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gsw",
"2": "Chats"
},
"expansion": "Alemannic German Chats"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "bar",
"2": "ckozza"
},
"expansion": "Bavarian ckozza"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cim",
"2": "katze"
},
"expansion": "Cimbrian katze"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "kat",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Dutch kat (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Katze",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "German Katze (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "Katt",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "German Low German Katt (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lb",
"2": "Kaz",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Luxembourgish Kaz (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "mhn",
"2": "kòtz",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Mòcheno kòtz (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "yi",
"2": "קאַץ",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Yiddish קאַץ (kats, “cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "kat",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Danish kat (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "køttur",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Faroese køttur (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "köttur",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic köttur (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nb",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nn",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "katt",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Swedish katt (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "cattus"
},
"expansion": "Latin cattus"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "rup",
"2": "cãtush",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Aromanian cãtush (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "chat",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "French chat (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "oc",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Occitan"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nrf",
"2": "cat",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Norman cat (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "pt",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Portuguese"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "es",
"2": "gato",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Spanish gato (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "br",
"2": "kaz"
},
"expansion": "Breton kaz"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "kw",
"2": "cath"
},
"expansion": "Cornish cath"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ga",
"2": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Irish cat"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gd",
"2": "cat",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Scottish Gaelic cat (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cy",
"2": "cath",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Welsh cath (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "grc",
"2": "κάτα"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek κάτα (káta)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "el",
"2": "γάτα",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Greek γάτα (gáta, “cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "tr",
"2": "kedi",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Turkish kedi (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "be",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Belarusian"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ru",
"2": "кот",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Russian кот (kot, “cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "uk",
"2": "кіт",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Ukrainian кіт (kit, “cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "pl",
"2": "kot",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Polish kot (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "csb",
"2": "kòt",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Kashubian kòt (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lv",
"2": "kaķis",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Latvian kaķis (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lt",
"2": "katė",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Lithuanian katė (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "hy",
"2": "կատու",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Armenian կատու (katu, “cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "eu",
"2": "katu",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Basque katu (“cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ka",
"2": "კატა",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Georgian კატა (ḳaṭa, “cat”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "syc",
"2": "ܩܛܐ"
},
"expansion": "Classical Syriac ܩܛܐ"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ar",
"2": "قِطَّة",
"t": "cat"
},
"expansion": "Arabic قِطَّة (qiṭṭa, “cat”)"
},
{
"name": "ety",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:cat",
"id": "feline",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Germanic *kattuz\nProto-West Germanic *kattu\nOld English catt\nMiddle English cat\nEnglish cat"
}
],
"links": [
[
"*kattuz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kattuz"
],
[
"*kattu",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kattu"
],
[
"catt",
"catt#Old_English"
],
[
"cat",
"cat#Middle_English"
],
[
"cat",
"cat#Middle_English"
],
[
"catte",
"catte#Middle_English"
],
[
"catt",
"catt#Old_English"
],
[
"catte",
"catte#Old_English"
],
[
"*kattu",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kattu"
],
[
"*kattuz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kattuz"
],
[
"cattus",
"cattus#Latin"
],
[
"catta",
"catta#Latin"
],
[
"gato",
"gato#English"
],
[
"Near East",
"Near East"
],
[
"Fertile Crescent",
"Fertile Crescent"
],
[
"ⲕⲁⲇⲓ̄ⲥ",
"ⲕⲁⲇⲓ̄ⲥ#Nobiin"
],
[
"قِطَّة",
"قطة#Arabic"
],
[
"ϣⲁⲩ",
"ϣⲁⲩ#Coptic"
],
[
"-t",
"-t#Egyptian"
],
[
"wanderword",
"wanderword"
],
[
"gađfe",
"gađfe#Northern_Sami"
],
[
"hölgy",
"hölgy#Hungarian"
],
[
"*käďwä",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Uralic/käďwä"
],
[
"cat",
"cat#Scots"
],
[
"kaat",
"kaat#North_Frisian"
],
[
"kaot",
"kaot#North_Frisian"
],
[
"Kat",
"Kat#North_Frisian"
],
[
"kåt",
"kåt#North_Frisian"
],
[
"Kat",
"Kat#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"kat",
"kat#West_Frisian"
],
[
"Chats",
"Chats#Alemannic_German"
],
[
"Chatz",
"Chatz#Alemannic_German"
],
[
"chatza",
"chatza#Alemannic_German"
],
[
"chatzu",
"chatzu#Alemannic_German"
],
[
"chatzò",
"chatzò#Alemannic_German"
],
[
"chàzzà",
"chàzzà#Alemannic_German"
],
[
"Kàtz",
"Kàtz#Alemannic_German"
],
[
"ckozza",
"ckozza#Bavarian"
],
[
"Katz",
"Katz#Bavarian"
],
[
"khoze",
"khoze#Bavarian"
],
[
"kòtze",
"kòtze#Bavarian"
],
[
"katze",
"katze#Cimbrian"
],
[
"khatz",
"khatz#Cimbrian"
],
[
"khatza",
"khatza#Cimbrian"
],
[
"kat",
"kat#Dutch"
],
[
"Katze",
"Katze#German"
],
[
"Katt",
"Katt#Low_German"
],
[
"Kaz",
"Kaz#Luxembourgish"
],
[
"kòtz",
"kòtz#Mòcheno"
],
[
"קאַץ",
"קאַץ#Yiddish"
],
[
"kat",
"kat#Danish"
],
[
"køttur",
"køttur#Faroese"
],
[
"köttur",
"köttur#Icelandic"
],
[
"katt",
"katt#Swedish"
],
[
"cattus",
"cattus#Latin"
],
[
"catus",
"catus#Latin"
],
[
"cãtush",
"cãtush#Aromanian"
],
[
"chat",
"chat#French"
],
[
"cat",
"cat#Norman"
],
[
"gato",
"gato#Spanish"
],
[
"kaz",
"kaz#Breton"
],
[
"kazh",
"kazh#Breton"
],
[
"cath",
"cath#Cornish"
],
[
"kath",
"kath#Cornish"
],
[
"cat",
"cat#Irish"
],
[
"cut",
"cut#Irish"
],
[
"cat",
"cat#Scottish_Gaelic"
],
[
"cath",
"cath#Welsh"
],
[
"κάτα",
"κάτα#Ancient_Greek"
],
[
"κάττα",
"κάττα#Ancient_Greek"
],
[
"γάτα",
"γάτα#Greek"
],
[
"kedi",
"kedi#Turkish"
],
[
"кот",
"кот#Russian"
],
[
"кіт",
"кіт#Ukrainian"
],
[
"kot",
"kot#Polish"
],
[
"kòt",
"kòt#Kashubian"
],
[
"kaķis",
"kaķis#Latvian"
],
[
"katė",
"katė#Lithuanian"
],
[
"կատու",
"կատու#Armenian"
],
[
"katu",
"katu#Basque"
],
[
"კატა",
"კატა#Georgian"
],
[
"ܩܛܐ",
"ܩܛܐ#Classical_Syriac"
],
[
"ܩܛܘ",
"ܩܛܘ#Classical_Syriac"
],
[
"قِطَّة",
"قطة#Arabic"
],
[
"قَطُّوس",
"قطوس#Arabic"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To hoist (an anchor) by its ring so that it hangs at the cathead.",
"To flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails.",
"To vomit.",
"To go wandering at night."
],
"tags": [
"transitive",
"archaic",
"slang"
],
"recordId": "64e66e568fbf5d7c41fa7c4410f046cf3c4ee6f03af7c2f96cc42454cff59689",
"rawRecordSha256": "28001c214acf04dc38c5432f8104a88716f2660d165b2583c84bf267a6958482",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 32
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 1,
"glosses": 0
}
}