Etymology

catchy

C3A1T1C3H4Y4

Today it means: Instantly appealing and memorable. Full definition →

English catch ← Middle English cacchen ← Anglo-Norman cachier
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kapyéti
  3. Proto-Indo-European*kaptós
  4. Proto-Italic*kaptos
  5. Latincaptus
  6. Vulgar Latin*captiāre
  7. Old Frenchchacier
  8. Anglo-Normancachier
  9. Middle Englishcacchen
  10. Englishcatch
  11. English todaycatchy

From catch + -y.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.