Where did the words "catsup" and "ketchup" come from?

Answer by  monkeyz (3150)

"Kichap" (in Malay) and "koechiap" (in Chinese) are words that mean "brine of fish." The sauce we know as ketchup today began as a sauce for fish made out of vegetables, nuts, and even oysters, before sailors added tomatoes and made what we know as ketchup. "Catsup" is one attempt at anglicizing the foreign words, and is still used today.

Answer by  nuttree (1596)

These words have a foreign origin, probably from Chinese or Malay languages. In Indonesian (a Malay variant) "kecap" is a sweet soy sauce, used in many recipes. In some Chinese dialects, "koe-chiap" is a fish sauce. American sailors may have tried to emulate these condiments with tomatoes and spices.