Grimalkin
A grimalkin, also known as a greymalkin, is an archaic term for a cat.[1] The term stems from "grey" (the colour) plus "malkin", an archaic term with several meanings (a low class woman, a weakling, a mop, or a name) derived from a hypocoristic form of the female name Maud.[2] Scottish legend makes reference to the grimalkin as a faery cat that dwells in the highlands.
During the early modern period, the name grimalkin – and cats in general – became associated with the devil and witchcraft. Women tried as witches in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were often accused of having a familiar, frequently a grimalkin. In Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 1, the First Witch says, "I come, Graymalkin" to her familiar (Shakespeare 1.1.8). In Roger Zelazny's fantasy novel A Night in the Lonesome October (1993), "Graymalk" is the name of a cat owned by a witch, possibly in reference to Macbeth.
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