Catai

See also: catai and catái

Italian
Antica mappa del Catai. — Ancient map of Cathay.

Etymology

From Latin Kitai &c., from its Khitan original Khita(n), probably via Uyghur.[1]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kaˈtai/, [käˈt̪äi̯]
  • Rhymes: -ai
  • Stress: Catài
  • Hyphenation: Ca‧tai

Proper noun

Catai m

  1. (historical) Cathay (historical name of northern China)
    • 1298, Marco Polo, Il Milione, Giuseppe Pagani (1827), Chapter 111, p.125:
      Ciaglu è una molto gran città nella provincia del Catai, ed è del Gran Cane, e sono idoli;
      Chaglu is a very large city in the province of Cathay: under the Great Khan, and [the people] are idolaters;
    • 1516, Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, Gabriel Giolito (1551), Canto XIX, p.85:
      Queſta, ſe non ſapete, Angelica era ¶ del Gran Can del Catai la figlia altiera.
      This, if you don't know, was Angelica ¶ haughty daughter of the Great Khan of Cathay.

See also

References
  1. Sinor, D. (1998) "The Kitan and the Kara Kitay" in History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. IV, Pt. I, UNESCO, p. 241.

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Etymology

See Italian

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Catai m

  1. (historical) Cathay (historical name of northern China)
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