cătun

Romanian

Etymology

Substratum word, akin to Albanian katund (northern/Gheg variant katûn), or possibly derived from it. Probably of native Balkanic, possibly Illyrian origin, and ultimately Indo-European but it is a much-disputed word with numerous and varied attempted etymologies. It is also found in many Balkan Slavic languages, such as Serbo-Croatian katun (“hamlet of shepherds”), traditionally associated with Vlachs, Bulgarian катун (katun), катунар (katunar), etc. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Noun

cătun n (plural cătune)

1. hamlet
2. small village, parish

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	cătun	cătunul		cătune	cătunele
genitive-dative	cătun	cătunului		cătune	cătunelor
vocative	cătunule			cătunelor

See also

• colibă
• bordei
• sat