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Definition of cathay in English English dictionary
- The name that was given to northern China by Marco Polo
- Former name for China, especially northern China. The word is derived from Khitay, the name of a seminomadic people who dominated northern China in the 10th-12th century. By the time of Genghis Khan, the Mongols had begun referring to northern China as Kitai (still the Russian word for China). The name may have been introduced to Europe by returning Franciscan friars 1254, but it was Marco Polo's Travels 50 years later that put Cathay's image before the European public
- {i} archaic name of Northern China
- China; an old name for the Celestial Empire, said have been introduced by Marco Polo and to be a corruption of the Tartar name for North China Khitai, the country of the Khitans
- an archaic or literary name for China
cathay
Hyphenation
Ca·thayTurkish pronunciation
kätheyPronunciation
/kaˈᴛʜā/ /kæˈθeɪ/
Etymology
() From Portuguese "Catai", from Khitan (契丹, Qìdān), the Chinese name of a Mongolian tribe who ruled Manchuria from 907-1115 CE. Cognate with Spanish Catay and Russian Китай.Resimler
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