Everyday LifeGreek → English
Kathleen
/ˈkæθliːn/proper noun
A female given name, the English spelling of Irish Caitlín.
The Greek roots
Αἰκατερίνη
Aikaterínē
Catherine, sense unknown
Literally: “the name Aikaterine, by way of Irish”
Follow a root:Αἰκατερίνη3 words
The story of the word
Kathleen came into English from Irish Caitlín, which arrived through Old French Cateline from Latin Catharina and Greek Αἰκατερίνη. What Αἰκατερίνη meant to whoever first used it is unknown; the link with καθαρός, pure, is a later Christian reshaping that changed the spelling to fit the sense. The song that fixed the name in the popular ear, I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen, was written in 1875 by an American schoolteacher, not by an Irishman.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → Irish → English
Same family
KatherineCaitlinKateKaren
In a sentence
Kathleen ran the parish office for thirty years and knew where everything was.