The english name hailed from European words used to describe
this species of animal. Those European names for the cat all sound
quite similar to one another, and were most probably derived from
one source and altered according to each European tongue.
For example, the Spanish call the cat "gato", the French call it
"chat", the ancient Romans "cattus" or, earlier, "catta", the
modern-day Italians call it "gatto", and the Welsh "kath".
The original European word for cat was probably adapted from
African or Asian words that meant cat, such as "kadis" from the
Nubians, "kadiska" from the Berbers or "qitt" (meaning tomcat")
from the Arabic tribes. The first record of the word "catta" in
Europe dates from 75 AD.