kitling

The story

1. Old Norse · derived fromketlingr“kitten”
2. Middle English · inherited fromkiteling“kitten, kit”
3. English todaykitling

From Middle English kiteling (“kitten, kit”), from Old Norse ketlingr (“kitten”), diminutive of kǫttr (“cat”), equivalent to cat + -ling. Cognate with Icelandic kettlingur (“kitten”), Faroese kettlingur (“kitten”), Norwegian ketling (“kitten”), Swedish källing (“kitten”), Danish killing (“kitten”). Compare English catling, of similar formation. See also kitten.