"C" Word Origins

catcall

Origin

First attested in the mid-17th c., from the resemblance to cats' nocturnal cries. From cat + call.

catch

Old French

From Anglo-Norman cachier, a variant of Old French chacier — the same root that gave English "chase."

catchfly

Origin

From catch + fly.

catchment

Origin

From catch + -ment.

catchphrase

Origin

From catch plus phrase, reflecting the idea that the phrase "catches on" in people's minds.

catchword

Origin

From catch + word.

catchy

Origin

From catch plus the adjective suffix -y.

cate

French

Shortened from Old Northern French acat, "a purchase."

catechesis

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin catēchēsis, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek κατήχησις (katḗkhēsis), from κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “sound through, instruct orally, catechise”).

catechetical

Origin

From catechetic + -al.

catechism

Ancient Greek

From Late Latin catechismus, from Ancient Greek katekhizein, "to instruct orally."

catechist

Origin

See catechize.

catechistic

Origin

From catechist + -ic.

catechize

Origin

Derived from Latin catēchizāre, from Ancient Greek κατηχίζω (katēkhízō), from κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “to teach (orally)”), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἠχέω (ēkhéō, “to sound, to resound”).

catechumen

Origin

From Middle English cathecumynys pl, from Middle French cathecumin (modern French catéchumène) or Ecclesiastical Latin catēchūmenus, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek κατηχούμενος (katēkhoúmenos, “being instructed”), present participle passive of κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “sound through, instruct orally, catechise”), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἠχή (ēkhḗ, “sound”).

categorical

Origin

From Late Latin catēgoricus + -al. By surface analysis, category + -ical.

categorically

Origin

From categorical plus the adverb suffix -ly.

categorize

Origin

From category plus the verb suffix -ize.

category

Ancient Greek

From Late Latin categoria, from Ancient Greek kategoria, "class of predicables."

cater

Old French

From Middle English catour, "provisioner," shortened from acatour, itself from Old French acater, "to buy."

caterer

Origin

From cater plus the agent suffix -er.

caterpillar

Late Latin

From Middle English catirpel, likely from Old Northern French words meaning "hairy cat," combining Late Latin catta ("cat") with pilosa ("hairy").

cates

Origin

Shortened from "acates," related to "cater" — the person who buys provisions.

catfight

Origin

From cat + fight — the fight sense borrows the image of scratching and hissing rather than throwing punches.

catfish

Origin · 2010

The fish is named for its cat-like facial whiskers (barbels). The online-deception sense took off after the 2010 documentary Catfish popularized the term.

Cath

Origin

Clipping of Catherine.

catharsis

Greek

From Greek katharsis, "cleansing" or "purging" — Aristotle used the word to describe how tragic drama purges an audience's pity and fear.

cathartic

New Latin

Borrowed via New Latin catharticus from Greek kathartikos, "cleansing" — the same root as catharsis.

cathay

Origin

From Latin Cathaya, variant of Cataya, from Old Turkic 𐰶𐰃𐱃𐰪 (Qïtań), and ultimately from Khitan 𘱿𘲫 (*qid ún); the Khitan people who conquered northern China as the Liao dynasty in the 10th century and ruled the central Asian Qara Khitai Khanate in the 12th, just prior to the overland European missions to China occasioned by the Pax Mongolica. Most likely cognate with Mongolian хутга (xutga, “knife”) from Proto-Mongolic *kïtuga. Doublet of Khitan. Cognate with Russian Кита́й (Kitáj, “China”). See Names of China.

cathayan

Origin

From Cathay + -an.

Cathcart

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic cath ("battle") plus the name of the River Cart.

cathedral

Latin

From Latin cathedralis, "of a bishop's chair," from cathedra ("seat, throne"), ultimately from Greek kathedra.

Catherine

Ancient Greek

From French Catherine, from Ancient Greek Aikaterine, of debated origin; associated by folk etymology with Greek katharos, "pure," which gave rise to the "th" spelling.

catheter

Greek

From Greek katheter, "something let down," originally describing an instrument used to empty the bladder.

cathode

Origin

From Ancient Greek κατα- (kata-, “down”) and ὁδός (hodós, “journey, way”), equivalent to Ancient Greek κάθοδος (káthodos, “way down, descent”). Coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1834 for Michael Faraday, who introduced it later that year. By surface analysis, cath- (alternative form of cata-) + -ode.

Catholic

Greek

From Greek katholikos, "universal," from kata ("according to") + holos ("whole"). The religious sense capitalizes the word; the "universal/broad" sense usually stays lowercase.

Catholicism

Origin

Compare French catholicisme.

catholicly

Origin

From Catholic + -ly.

cathouse

Origin

From cat (old slang for a prostitute) + house.

catly

Origin

From cat + -ly. Compare catlike.

catmint

Origin

From Middle English catt mynte, kattesminte, equivalent to cat + mint. The word’s appearance in early Middle English (c. 1230) and other Germanic languages (German Katzenminze, Icelandic kattarminta, Swedish kattmynta) means that it is very likely to have existed in Old English (as *cattes minte) as well.

catnap

Origin

From cat + nap. Named in reference to the feline habit of taking multiple, brief, and light naps throughout the day to conserve energy, rather than sleeping for one long, uninterrupted block.

catnip

Origin

From cat + nip (an old word related to mint), reflecting the plant's powerful effect on cats.

Cato

Latin

From Latin Cato, a cognomen of the gens Porcia.

catrina

Origin

From Spanish Catrina, from an etching titled La Calavera Catrina by Jose Guadalupe Posada that showed a skeleton wearing an elegant, European-style hat.

catriona

Origin

From Scottish Gaelic Caitrìona.

catsit

Origin

From cat + sit, by analogy with babysit.

catsitter

Origin

From cat + sitter or catsit + -er.