Cathay

English

Etymology

From Latin Cathaya, variant of Cataya, from Old Turkic 𐰶𐰃𐱃𐰪‎ (Khitāyn), 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. Cognate with Russian Кита́й (Kitáj, “China”).[1] See "Names of China" at Wikipedia.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kæˈθeɪ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪ

Proper noun

Cathay

  1. (archaic) China, specifically medieval northern China as reached by the overland Silk Road to Xi'an or Beijing, not known at the time to be related to southern China as reached by the maritime routes to Guangzhou.
  2. A settlement in North Dakota.

Translations

References
  1. "Cathay, n." in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Portuguese

Proper noun

Cathay m

  1. Alternative spelling of Catai
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