Where does “catnip” come from?

catnip (English) comes from English cat, from Middle English catte, from Old English catte, from Germanic *kattǭ, from Germanic *kattuz, from Latin cattus, from Latin catta — a cat.

catnip (English): Any of the about 250 species of flowering plant...

Definitions

  1. Any of the about 250 species of flowering plant...

Ancestry of “catnip”, step by step

catnip traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English cat

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishcatAn animal of the family Felidae; A person; A...
2Middle Englishcatte—
3Old Englishcattea female cat
4Germanic*kattǭ—
5Germanic*kattuz—
6Latincattusa cat
7Latincattaa cat

via Middle English nep

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishnepAlternative form of nap
2Old Englishneptecatnip
3Latinnepetacatnip

Words derived from “catnip”

Every word from Latin catta →Every word from Latin cattus →Every word from Germanic *kattuz →