Feline comes from Latin fēlēs (cat) and entered English as a formal, scientific alternative to the common word 'cat.'
Relating to or resembling cats; having the qualities associated with cats, such as grace or stealth
Feline entered English in the 1680s from Late Latin fēlīnus, meaning 'of or belonging to a cat,' derived from Latin fēlēs (also fēlis), meaning 'cat.' The Latin word's deeper origin is uncertain. Some scholars have proposed a connection to fēlāre (to suckle), linking the cat to its nursing behavior, but this is speculative. Others suggest a Mediterranean substrate word, noting
Latin had two unrelated words for cat: fēlēs (the native term, also covering martens and polecats) and cattus (borrowed, probably from an Afroasiatic language along with the domesticated animal itself). English inherited cattus as 'cat' for everyday use and fēlēs as 'feline' for formal contexts.