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Cat o' nine tails
The cat o' nine tails is a whip of nine knotted cords on a handle, formerly used for flogging, especially in the British and American navies.
Cat theory (Deng Xiaoping)
Cat theory (猫论) is the pragmatic doctrine of Deng Xiaoping that a policy is judged by its results, not its ideological label, underpinning China's 1978 reforms.
Catacombs of Rome
Catacombs of Rome: ancient underground Jewish and Christian cemeteries cut into tuff around the city, begun under Pope Zephyrin, with nearly sixty complexes, loculi and cubicula tombs, and over one million burials.
Catafalque
Catafalque (Italian catafalco): raised, often draped platform on which a coffin or effigy rests during lying in state, or represents it in absence; includes the 1865 pine Lincoln catafalque and Westminster Hall's 2022 structure.
Catalan Alliance
Catalan Alliance (Aliança Catalana) is a far-right, pro-independence Catalan party founded by Sílvia Orriols of Ripoll; it entered the Parliament of Catalonia in 2024 with 2 seats, combining nativist anti-immigration politics with Catalan separatism, distinct from Spanish nationalist Vox.
Catalan Company
The Catalan Company (Gran Companyia Catalana) was a 14th-century mercenary force of almogavars led by Roger de Flor, hired by Andronikos II against the Turks, and later ruler of the duchies of Athens and Neopatria from 1311 to 1388.
Catalan declaration of independence
Catalan declaration of independence (Declaració d'independència de Catalunya): resolution passed by the Parliament of Catalonia on 27 October 2017, 70-10, proclaiming a Catalan Republic after the disputed 1 October referendum; unrecognized, countered by Article 155, and legally without effect.
Catalan independence movement
Catalan independence movement (independentisme català): political and social movement seeking Catalonia's secession from Spain. Support surged after the 2010 Statute ruling, peaked with the banned 1 October 2017 referendum and Article 155 direct rule, then declined; pro-independence parties lost their majority in 2024.
Catalan language
Catalan (català, valencià in the Valencian Community) is a Western Romance language that emerged in the 8th-10th centuries in the Carolingian Spanish March, spoken from Northern Catalonia to Valencia, with 6.5 million first-language speakers, five dialects, and a unique go-infinitive past tense.
Catalan orthography
Catalan orthography (ortografia catalana, Catalan spelling): the IEC-codified spelling system of Catalan, from Fabra's 1913 Normes to the 2024/2025 OIEC updates, with ç, l·l, elision and dialect-accommodating norms.
Catalan phonology
Catalan phonology: the sound system of the Romance language of Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearics, and Andorra. Seven stressed vowels, Eastern vowel reduction to schwa and [u], Western unreduced vowels, final devoicing, and homorganic stop deletion distinguish it.
Catalans
Catalans (catalans) are the people identified with Catalonia and the Catalan-speaking lands; their Romance language, born 8th-10th centuries, underpins a medieval identity, 1714 institutional defeat, Francoist repression, and modern bilingual demographics.
Çatalcali Ali Efendi
Çatalcali Ali Efendi (Çatalcalı Ali Efendi) was an Ottoman Hanafi jurist who served twice as Shaykh al-Islam, under Mehmed IV and Ahmed II, and compiled the Fetâvâ-yı Ali Efendi.
Catalina Cruz
Catalina Cruz is an American politician and attorney who has represented Corona, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights in the New York State Assembly as a Democrat since 2019.
Catalina de Erauso
Catalina de Erauso, called the Monja Alférez, was a Basque woman who escaped a convent, lived as a man, and fought as a Spanish soldier in Chile and Peru.
Catalio Capital Management
Catalio Capital Management is a New York life-sciences investment firm founded in 2020 by George Petrocheilos and Jacob Vogelstein, investing across private equity, credit, and public equities.
Catalio Genesis
Catalio Genesis is a series of Delaware healthcare and biotech venture funds, Funds II through X, managed by Catalio Capital Management, the New York firm founded in 2020.
Catalogue of Antiquities of the Xuanhe era (Xuanhe bogu tu)
The Catalogue of Antiquities of the Xuanhe era (宣和博古图) is a 30-juan Song dynasty catalog of 839 ancient bronzes in Emperor Huizong's imperial collection, begun in 1107.
Catalogue of Texts and Authors
The Catalogue of Texts and Authors is a Mesopotamian scholarly catalog that links Akkadian literary works to named authors with the phrase "from the mouth of" (ša pî).
CatalYm
CatalYm GmbH is a German clinical-stage biotechnology company in Planegg near Munich, founded in 2016 as a University of Würzburg spin-off, developing visugromab, an antibody against tumor-produced GDF-15.
Catamite
Catamite: archaic English word for a boy kept for sex in Greco-Roman pederasty, from Latin catamitus, a corruption of Ganymedes via Etruscan; first recorded in English in 1593.
Catania Mafia family
Catania Mafia family: the Cosa Nostra family of Catania, Sicily, led by the Santapaola-Ercolano clan of Nitto Santapaola, rival to the Cappello clan; active in cocaine trafficking, extortion, and business infiltration.
Cataphract
Cataphract (κατάφρακτος), fully armored shock cavalry of antiquity with lance and armored horse, originated with Assyrian and Iranian traditions, served Parthians, Sasanians, Hellenistic states and Rome, and continued in Byzantium.
Catastrophizing scale
A catastrophizing scale is a self-report questionnaire measuring exaggerated negative appraisals of pain or stress; the dominant instrument is the 13-item Pain Catastrophizing Scale, introduced in 1995.
Catatumbo campaign
Catatumbo campaign: armed conflict for control of the Catatumbo coca region of Norte de Santander, Colombia, on the Venezuelan border; ELN, FARC dissidents and EPL have fought there since the 1970s, and the ELN's 16 January 2025 offensive displaced over 100,000 people.
Catavi massacre
The Catavi massacre (Spanish: Masacre de Catavi) was the killing of striking tin miners and their families by Bolivian Army troops at Catavi, Potosí, Bolivia, on 21 December 1942.
Catawba people
Catawba people (Ye Iswa, "people of the river"): Piedmont Native American nation of the Catawba River valley; only federally recognized tribe in South Carolina, restored in 1993 with a $50 million settlement, over 3,300 citizens.
Catch Me If You Can (book)
Catch Me If You Can (book) is a 1980 memoir by Frank W. Abagnale. It details his criminal career, claiming he forged over $2.5 million in checks.
Catchphrase
Catchphrase: a phrase repeated until it becomes attached to a famous person, character, or organization. First attested 1837 in political use; studied in US television, where 168 catchphrases over 70 years show growing swearing.
Cate Edwards
Cate Edwards (Catharine E. Edwards), American trial lawyer in Raleigh, NC, daughter of John and Elizabeth Edwards; founding partner of Edwards Beightol (2021), specializing in personal injury, civil rights, and wrongful death litigation.