Etymology

catnip

C3A1T1N1I1P3

Today it means: Any of the about 250 species of flowering plant of the genus Nepeta, family Lamiaceae, certain of which are said to have medicinal qualities. Full definition →

Middle English nep ← Old English nepte ← Proto-West Germanic *nepetā
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromnepeta“catnip”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*nepetā
  3. Old English · derived fromnepte
  4. Middle English · derived fromnep
  5. English todaycatnip

Compound of cat + nep, nip (“catnip”), from Middle English nep, from Old English nepte, from Proto-West Germanic *nepetā, from Latin nepeta (“catnip”). Compare earlier catmint (“catnip”), from Middle English catt mynte, which very likely existed in Old English (as *cattes minte) as well.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.