Cathay
Cathay is the Anglicized version of “Catai” and an alternative name for China in English. “Catai” was originally the name used for northern China during Marco Polo’s time (he referred to southern China as Manji). “Catai” itself derives from the word Khitan, the Chinese name of a tribe ruling predominantly in northern China during Polo’s visits. Travels in the Land of Kublai Khan by Marco Polo has a story called “The Road to Cathay”. In the English language, the word Cathay was sometimes used for China, although increasingly only in a poetic sense, until the 19th century when it was completely replaced by “China”. However the terms “China” and “Cathay” are about as old as each other in English. The term may still be used poetically or in certain proper nouns, such as Cathay Pacific Airways or Cathay Hotel. A person from Cathay (i.e., a Chinese) was also written in English as a Cathayan or a Cataian.