Chatti
/ˈkæt.aɪ/noun
The Chatti were an ancient Germanic people who lived in central Germany during the Roman period.
Did you know?The Chatti were described by Tacitus as disciplined Germanic warriors, and many scholars connect their name—though not with certainty—to the later name Hesse.
Etymological Timeline
1st Century BCE–1st Century CE
Germanic
*Kattī?
“A proposed but uncertain ancestral form; the Chatti’s own name and its original meaning are not securely known.”
1st Century CE
Greek
Χάττοι (Cháttoi)
“The name used by Greek authors for the Chatti, a Germanic people north of the Roman frontier.”
1st Century CE
Latin
Chatti
“The Roman form of the tribal name, prominently recorded by Tacitus.”
2nd Century CE
Latin
Chatti
“The ethnonym continued in Roman geographical and historical writing for a powerful central Germanic group.”
Early Medieval Period
Germanic
Hassi / Hessi
“Later regional forms associated by many scholars with the Chatti, although the linguistic transition remains debated.”
Modern English
English
Chatti
“The conventional English name for the ancient Germanic tribe.”