Cathay
[ka-they]
Show More
Origin of Cathay
< Medieval Latin Cat(h)aya < Turkic; compare Tatar Kïtai
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cathay
Contemporary Examples
One airline that has already banned shipments on its passenger flights is Cathay Pacific.
This is the story of the Jesuit who more than 500 years ago made himself part of Cathay.
Historical Examples
We're registered here as a recruiting ship for Cathay, so it's no secret.
VictoryLester del Rey
If one of those titans was to be used against Cathay, Earth's colony was doomed.
VictoryLester del Rey
Yet if she did, he was sure that it would have been impossible not to use them in defense of the colony of Cathay.
VictoryLester del Rey
The humans of Cathay might try a return raid, but he was unworried.
VictoryLester del Rey
Cathay couldn't maintain the big ship, and it was practically useless.
VictoryLester del Rey
Cathay
- a literary or archaic name for China
Show More
Word Origin
C14: from Medieval Latin Cataya, of Turkic origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for cathay
Cathay
n.
1560s, poetic name for "China," from Medieval Latin Cataya, from Turkish Khitai, from Uighur Khitai, name of a Tatar dynasty that ruled Beijing 936-1122.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper