catta

Interlingua

Etymology

From English cat, French chatte, Spanish gata, Portuguese gata, and Italian gatta, all of which derive from Late Latin catta, which is believed to have been derived from an Afroasiatic language.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkat.ta/

Noun

catta (plural cattas)

1. she-cat, female cat

Related terms

• catto
• catton

Latin

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “needs explanation for sense 1”) Sense 2 is the feminine counterpart to cattus; see there for further information.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkat.ta]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkat.ta]

Noun

catta f (genitive cattae); first declension

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include: an unknown species of animal
   • 86 CE – 103 CE, Martialis, Epigrammata 13.69.1:

     Pannonicas nobis numquam dedit Umbria cattas

     Umbria never gave to us Pannonian cattas

2. a female cat
   • Baruch 6:21 (Vulgate):

     supra corpus eorum et supra caput volant noctuae et hirundines et aves etiam similiter et cattae

     owls, and swallows, and other birds fly upon their bodies, and upon their heads, and cats [sit on them] in like manner

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	catta	cattae
genitive	cattae	cattārum
dative	cattae	cattīs
accusative	cattam	cattās
ablative	cattā	cattīs
vocative	catta	cattae

Related terms

• cattus m

Descendants

• Balkano-Romance:
  • Proto-Romanian: *cată
    • ⇒ Aromanian: cãtushi
    • ⇒ Romanian: cătușă
• Italo-Romance:
  • Corsican: ghjatta
  • Dalmatian: guota
  • Istriot: gata
  • Italian: gatta
  • Neapolitan: jatta
  • Sicilian: gatta, jatta
  • Venetan: gata
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: gjate
  • Ladin: giata
  • Romansh: giatta
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Emilian: gàta
  • Ligurian: gatta
  • Lombard: gatta
  • Piedmontese: gata, ciata
  • Romagnol: gata
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: chata
  • Old French: chate
    • Middle French: chatte
      • French: chatte
    • Walloon: cate, tchete
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: gata
  • Occitan: gata, cata, chata
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: gata
  • Asturian: gata
  • Mirandese: gata
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: gata
    • Galician: gata
    • Portuguese: gata
  • Spanish: gata
• Borrowings:
  • →? Koine Greek: κάττα (kátta) (see there for further descendants)
  • →? Proto-Celtic: *kattā (see there for further descendants)
  • →? Proto-Germanic: *kattǭ (see there for further descendants)

References

• “catta”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "catta", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “catta”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• catta in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Old Saxon

Noun

catta f

1. alternative spelling of katta