musio

Uncertain; perhaps from mūs +‎ -iō. The word is attested in Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae, where he states that the word is derived from mūs (“mouse”) since cats catch mice; however, Isidore's etymologies are generally unreliable.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmuː.si.oː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmuː.s̬i.o]

mūsiō m (genitive mūsiōnis); third declension

1. cat (rare)

   Synonyms: aelūrus, cattus, fēlēs, mūriceps, mūrilegus, pilāx

   • c. 600 CE – 625 CE, Isidorus Hispalensis, Etymologiae 12.2.38:

     Mūsiō appellātus, quod mūribus īnfestus sit. Hunc vulgus cattum ā captūra vocant.

     [A cat] is called mūsiō because it is deadly to mice. People call it cattus from catching.

   • Thomas of Cantimpré, Liber de natura rerum:

     De musione vel murilego, qui et cattus etiam dicitur.

     Regarding the musio or murilegus, which is also called cattus.

Third-declension noun.

• Asturian: muxu
• Catalan: moix
• Italian: micio
• Lombard: mosc, moscia, misc
• Romanian: mâță
• Sicilian: muciu

• “mūsĭo”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1006.
• musio in Georges, Karl Ernst; Georges, Heinrich (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th edition, volume 2, Hahnsche Buchhandlung, column 1068