CATKIN, noun In botany, a species of calyx or rather of inflorescence, from a common chaffy gemmaceous receptacle, or consisting of many chaffy scales ranged along a stalk, slender as a thread, which is the common receptacle, as in hazle, birch, oak, willow, poplar, etc.; so called from its resemblance to a cats tail.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI