catchcatch

Catch comes from Middle English cacchen, from Anglo-Norman cachier, a variant of Old French chacier, from Late Latin captiō, from Latin captō.

1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiō¹‘to take’
2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptō¹‘to try to catch’
3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcaptiō¹
4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chacier¹
5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400cachier²
6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cacchen¹
7. Englishearliest quotation 1590catch¹

1. ¹ Wiktionary, English catch
2. ² Wiktionary, Middle English cacchen
3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto II: “Her aged Nourse, whose name was Glaucè hight, /…”.