pole cat

[Barnhart]

>From The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology:

"...animal related to the ferret, fitch, 1320 _polcat_, probably formed
through Anglo-French _pol_, _pul_, from Old French _poule_, _pol_ fowl,
hen; see pullet + _cat_, variant of _chat_, reinforced by Middle
English _cat_, perhaps so called because it preys on poultry.  Another
explanation is that the first element _pol-_, later _pul-_, is from Old
Fench _pulent_ stinking, because of the polecat's foul odor, and while
this seems plausible, the form _pulcat_ does not appear in the record
of English before 1440."

Regards
David Barnhart

David K. Barnhart, Editor
The Barnhart Dictionary Companion [quarterly]
barnhart at highlands.com
www.highlands.com/Lexik

"Necessity obliges us to neologize."
Thomas Jefferson-August 16, 1813