This week’s theme
Toponyms

This week’s words
alsatia
Carthaginian peace
Cathay
siberianize
Botany Bay

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(ka-THAY)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A remote and exotic land, steeped in mystery, richness, and bliss.
2. A literary name for China.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin Cataya/Cathaya, from Turkish Khitai, from Khitan Khitai (the Khitan people who ruled northern China). Earliest documented use: 1744. See also Shangri-la.

NOTES:

Cathay is what happens when “China” puts on a silk robe and writes poetry by moonlight. This medieval name for China was popularized by the explorer Marco Polo in his travelogue. Cathay is the Instagram filter version of historical China where the silk is always smooth, the tea is always perfect, and your travel blog practically writes itself. Cathay, because “Middle Kingdom” sounded too much like a Tolkien sequel.

USAGE:

“To reach a Cathay of spiritual harmony.”
Benjamin Townley Spencer; Patterns of Nationality; B. Franklin; 1981.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: