Catgut

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkætˌɡʌt/

Definitions

1. A cord made from the dried intestines of sheep, horses, or other animals, traditionally used for strings on musical instruments and sports equipment
2. A type of strong cord crafted from the intestines of animals, often utilized in various applications such as musical instrument strings and surgical sutures
3. This material, derived from the gut of animals, is commonly employed in creating strings for instruments and for stitching in medical procedures

Etymology: The most common story about "catgut" is that it has nothing to do with cats, and the evidence for that is strong. The material comes from the intestines of sheep, goats, or cattle, and the name may be a shortening of "cattlegut," a plain description of where it came from. Another proposal is that the word arose by folk etymology from "kitgut" or "kitstring." In that version, "kit" meant a fiddle, a sense the word once had, and it was confused with "kit," meaning a young cat, which then supplied the animal in the name. Both explanations keep the word anchored to the instrument or the animal's body rather than to felines. The cat link is an English reinterpretation of a name that was already in use, and the earlier forms suggest the name was built from ordinary words for the material and the musical instrument it served.

Synonyms: string, cord