## AI Etymology
Feline comes from Late Latin 'fēlīnus' ('of a cat'), from Latin 'fēlēs, fēlis' ('cat, marten'), a word of uncertain origin. The history is deliberately cautious: the proposed comparison is useful for orientation, but the wording leaves room for uncertainty rather than forcing a false certainty. In present use, it is used as a adjective and noun meaning "of or resembling a cat; catlike", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as felinely and felinity and related forms such as felid, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Latin fēlīnus and Latin fēlēs, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood is marked by catlike, catty, and cat on one side and contrasts such as canine on the other, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

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