Cathay

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The name medieval European travelers and writers used for China, especially in the accounts of Marco Polo
2. An archaic term for the country now known as China, once common in European maps and literature
3. A historical name for China, used in older Western writing and made famous by the travels of Marco Polo

Etymology: Cathay is an old English name for China, and its roots run back to a people rather than a place. The Khitan, a nomadic people from the region of Manchuria and Mongolia, conquered northern China and founded the Liao dynasty in the 10th century. Their name, pronounced something like "Qidan," passed into Old Turkic as "Qïtań," and from there reached Europe through medieval travellers and writers. Latin spread the name as "Cathaya," a variant of "Cataya." When European missionaries and merchants travelled overland to China during the 13th and 14th centuries, the Khitan state had already been replaced, but its name still circulated, so Europeans used it for the whole country. The Russian "Kitáj," meaning China, is the same name arriving by a separate route, which makes the two words doublets.