Where does “Meerkatze” come from?

Meerkatze (German) comes from German katze, from Middle High German katze, from Old High German kazza, from Old High German katta, from Proto-Celtic kattā, from Proto-Germanic *kattǭ, from Latin catta, from Latin cattus — a cat.

Meerkatze (German): guenon

Definitions

  1. guenon

Ancestry of “Meerkatze”, step by step

Meerkatze traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via German katze

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germankatzehouse cat, Felis silvestris catus
2Middle High Germankatzecat
3Old High Germankazzacat
4Old High Germankatta—
5Proto-Celtickattācat
6Proto-Germanic*kattǭfemale cat
7Latincattaa cat
8Latincattusa cat

via German Meer

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanMeersea; lake
2Middle High Germanmere—
3Old High Germanmēromore
4Proto-West Germanic*maiʀōmore, larger
5Proto-Germanicmaizôcomparative degree of *mikilaz; more
6Proto-Indo-Europeanmē-to measure; endeavour, will, temper; many

via Middle High German merekatze

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle High Germanmerekatze—
2Old High Germanmerikazza—
Every word from Latin cattus →