Cathay

[ ka-they ]

/ kæˈθeɪ /

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noun Literary or Archaic.

China.

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Origin of Cathay

<Medieval Latin Cat(h)aya<Turkic; compare Tatar Kïtai

Words nearby Cathay

Cathar, catharine wheel, cat-harpin, catharsis, cathartic, Cathay, cathead, cathect, cathectic, cathedra, cathedral

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Cathay in a sentence

One airline that has already banned shipments on its passenger flights is Cathay Pacific.
Passenger Flights Must Stop Carrying Lithium-Ion Batteries as Cargo|Clive Irving|May 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This is the story of the Jesuit who more than 500 years ago made himself part of Cathay.
James Fallows: 5 Favorite ‘Outsiders In China’ Books|James Fallows|May 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Even the light eyes seemed to have grown slightly oblique; the voice, the unimpassioned greeting, were those of a son of Cathay.
Dope|Sax Rohmer
Three years of the fifty have now passed, and each one of the young women I met in Cathay has married.
A Bicycle of Cathay|Frank R. Stockton

He saw Peru with its riches; he saw fabled Cathay; he saw the uttermost isles of the distant sea.
South American Fights and Fighters|Cyrus Townsend Brady
With the threat of help from Earth for Cathay, he had been forced to delay while larger fleets were built.
Victory|Lester del Rey
His plans had never been based on holding back the seemingly weak forces of Cathay.
Victory|Lester del Rey

British Dictionary definitions for Cathay

Cathay

/ (kæˈθeɪ) /

noun

a literary or archaic name for China

Word Origin for Cathay

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