cattus

Forms

cattus m (genitive cattī); second declension^[1] Also spelled catus, and in medieval texts often gattus or gatus.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[1][4][2] Wiktionary suggests a borrowing from a Nilo-Saharan or Afroasiatic language and compares Arabic قِطّ (qiṭṭ, “cat, tomcat”) and Classical Syriac ܩܛܘ (qaṭṭu, “cat”).^[1] Etymonline also thinks it probably Afro-Asiatic in the end, comparing Berber kadiska (“cat”) and a Nubian word.^[5] Köbler suggests, with a question mark, a source in Egyptian,^[2] and Niermeyer marks it as perhaps Celtic.^[6]

Isidore of Seville reports that the common people named it from catching (⟨a captura⟩), and that others derived it from ⟨cattat⟩ “it sees”, because its sight is so sharp.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Palladius (end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century AD) has it.^{[8][9][10][2]}

Semantic evolution

Glossaries equate it with Ancient Greek αἴλουρος (aílouros) and with mūrilegus “mouse-catcher”.^[8][4] It appears in poems of the Latin Anthology, and Isidore of Seville gives it as the common word for the mūsiō.^[8][7] Etymonline notes that by about 700 it was in general use on the Continent, replacing fēlēs.^[5]

In Medieval Latin it is the house cat, specially the tomcat, and the wild cat.^[3][11][6] The price of 300 cat skins is recorded in England in 1228.^[11] It also named war engines: a movable shelter for besiegers, a battering ram, and a kind of oared warship.^[3][6][2]

It survives in Italian gatto, French chat and Spanish and Portuguese gato.^[1][10] Etymonline takes Proto-Germanic *kattuz, and so Old English catt (about 700), from Late Latin cattus;^[5][1] Wiktionary calls that borrowing uncertain.^[5][1]

Timeline

• end of 4th/beginning of 5th century AD – Palladius uses it.^[8][2]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville gives it as the popular name of the cat.^[7][2]
• c. 700 – Old English has catt.^[5]
• 1228 – The price of cat skins is recorded in England.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) A cat, especially a tomcat.^[8][9][6][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) A wildcat.^[3][11]
3. (Medieval Latin, military) A movable shelter for besiegers; a battering ram.^[3][6][2]
4. (Medieval Latin) A kind of oared warship.^[3][2]

Related words

• English cat

Usage notes

The spelling catus is also the classical adjective catus “shrewd”, a separate word, which Isidore of Seville tied to the cat's sharp sight.^[7][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
8. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press