Catel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic word for movable personal property, such as goods, livestock or possessions that can be owned and transferred
2. Old term for property that can be moved from place to place, including household goods, animals and other belongings
3. A obsolete spelling of chattel referring to personal possessions or wealth that are not attached to land

Etymology: Before "catel" meant anything in particular, it meant wealth in the form of portable goods. The word descends from Latin "capitale," an adjective built on "caput," "head," so its root sense is tied to the head as a unit of counting. A head of livestock was a countable unit of property, and that link between the body and the bank account is buried in the word's ancestry. In Anglo-Norman, the word reached English as a term for movable property of any kind, not only animals. Its Middle English form "catel" survives in modern "chattel," which still means a personal possession, especially in legal contexts where it is set against land. Its twin is "cattle." Both come from the same Anglo-Norman source, but English split them: "cattle" narrowed to farm animals, while "chattel" kept the broader sense of movable goods.

Synonyms: chattel, property, possession, goods