China; -- an old name for the Celestial Empire, said have been introduced by Marco Polo and to be a corruption of the Tartar name for North China (Khitai, the country of the Khitans.)

Cathay is what Europeans of Kerbouchard's time called North China. Cathay got its name from the Mongol people who ruled parts of China, the Khitan. Although it was known as the Liao dynasty, people continued to call northern China Cathay, even when the dynasty fell. The tern "Cathay" was used by Wiliam of Rubruck, Marco Polo, and missionaries from France. Since the Europeans had little knowledge of Asia, they assumed Cathay and China were different places. (KyOy,LnUn,EeMy)

an archaic or literary name for China

Cathay in a fictional nation in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy universe.