Etymology

caddy

cad·dy
C3A1D2D2Y4

Today it means: A small box or tin (can) with a lid for holding dried tea leaves used to brew tea. Full definition →

Malay kati ← Tamil கட்டி
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

caddy · noun1

  1. Tamil · derived fromகட்டி“measure of weight; clod, lump”
  2. Malay · borrowed fromkati“weight used in China, Indonesia, and Japan”
  3. English todaycaddy

An alteration of catty (“(unit of) weight used in China, equivalent to 1⅓ pounds avoirdupois (about 0.605 kilograms)”), borrowed from Malay kati (“weight used in China, Indonesia, and Japan”), from Tamil கட்டி (kaṭṭi, “measure of weight; clod, lump”), from கட்டு (kaṭṭu, “to coagulate, congeal, or consolidate (into a concretion); to harden”).

caddy · noun, verb2

A variant of caddie (etymology 1).

Caddy · noun3

From Cadillac + -y.

Words from the same roots

Malaykati all →

katicatty

Tamilகட்டி all →

catty

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.