cattus

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

Unknown; possibly a Wanderwort,[1] compare Proto-Uralic *käďwä (“female (of a fur animal)”),[2] or perhaps borrowed from a Nilo-Saharan or Afroasiatic language,[3] compare Nubian kadī (“cat”), Arabic قِطّ (qiṭṭ, “cat, tomcat”), Classical Syriac ܩܛܘ (qaṭṭu, “cat”).

Pronunciation

Noun

cattus m (genitive cattī); second declension[4][5][6]

  1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) a cat
    • c. 4th-5th century, Servius, In Vergilii Aeneidem commentarii 5.610.1:
      Nulli visa ad ipsum retulit numen: nam arcus semper videtur: quem non Irim, sed viam Iridis dixit. alii celeritatis esse volunt 'nulli visa'. notandum sane etiam de Iride arcum genere masculino dicere Vergilium: Catullus et alii genere feminino ponunt, referentes ad originem, sicut 'haec cattus' et 'haec gallus' legimus.
    • 1558, Martin Luther, Theologiae Martini Lutheri Trimembris Epitome, De Tertio Statu Hominis:
      Affirmant quod quanto sceleratior es, tanto citius Deus gratiam infundit: si autem adornes te, ut cattus bonis operibus, ut te Deus acceptet, nihil efficias.
      They assert that the more a miscreant you are, the sooner God showers grace upon you: if, however, you should adorn yourself, like a cat, with good works, so that God accepts you, you shall bring about nothing.
    • 1656, Guillaume Pepin, Conciones Mysticae et Morales in Septem Psalmos Poenitentiales, page 38:
      [...] illa accepit bovem & cattum, et utrumque duxit ad forum. Cumque quiddam venisset qui bovem emere veller. Illa respondit. Nullus habebit bovem, nisi etiam emat & cattum. Cumque ille dixisset non velle emere cattum, abiit. Et statim venit alius & interrogat quanti pretii utrumque foret. Illa dixit se velle vendere cattum pro una marcha argentari, sed bovem pro denario, & sic convenerunt.
      [...] she took the ox and the cat, and led both to the market. Anytime someone came who wanted to buy the ox, she responded: None shall have an ox, unless besides he also buys a cat. Any time someone said he did not want to buy a cat, he left. And immediately another came and asked what price for each. She said she wanted to sell a cat for one silver mark, but an ox for a denarius, and so they came to an agreement.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative cattus cattī
Genitive cattī cattōrum
Dative cattō cattīs
Accusative cattum cattōs
Ablative cattō cattīs
Vocative catte cattī

Synonyms

Descendants
  • Dalmatian:
    • cuot
  • Italo-Romance:
  • Padanian:
  • Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Ibero-Romance:
  • Insular Romance:
  • Borrowings:
    • → Koine Greek: κάττος (káttos), masculine of κάττα (kátta)
      • Mediaeval Greek κάττος (káttos) / κάτος (kátos) / γάτος (gátos)
    • → Basque: katu
    • → Maltese: qattus
    • → Proto-Celtic: *kattos (see there for further descendants)
    • → Proto-Germanic: *kattuz (uncertain) (see there for further descendants)
    • → Proto-Slavic: *kotъ (see there for further descendants)
    • → Translingual: Catus (obsolete)

References
  1. Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Katze”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 362
  2. Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*kattōn-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 281-282
  3. Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q. (2006) The Oxford introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European world, Oxford University Press, page 141
  4. cattus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  5. cattus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  6. cattus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
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