The story
- Middle Dutch · derived fromkatteken“catkin”
- English todaycatkin
From Middle Dutch katteken (“catkin”, literally “little cat”). So named due to the resemblance of lengthier kinds to a kitten's tail, or, perhaps more probably, the fine fur found on some catkins (compare the pictures). Cognate with German Kätzchen, modern Dutch katje; compare French chaton (“kitten”; “catkin”). By surface analysis, cat + -kin.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.