Cathay
/kæˈθeɪ/noun
A literary or historical name for China, especially in medieval European usage.
Did you know?The name Cathay reached Europe through medieval trade routes from the Khitan people, whose empire in northern China left such a strong impression that their name became a whole foreign-world label in the West.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Tungusic / Proto-Mongolic era
Proto-Mongolic
*Kïtan
“The ethnonym of the Khitan people, a nomadic group of northern China”
10th Century
Chinese
契丹
“Qìdān, the Chinese name for the Khitan people”
11th–13th Century
Persian
Khitāy
“China; the land associated with the Khitan”
13th Century
Old French
Catay
“China, as known through travelers’ accounts”
14th Century
Middle English
Cathay
“China; a poetic or distant eastern land”
Modern English
English
Cathay
“A literary or historical name for China”