The term cateran historically referred to a band of fighting men of a Scotland Highland clan; hence the term applied to the Highland, and later to any, marauders or cattle-lifters. An individual member is a ceithernach or catanach, but Walter Scott calls an individual a cateran. According to Randy Lee Eichoff it derives from Old Celtic 'cat' and 'nach' Catanach means war-man, warrior. Its plural is ceithern or ceithrenn or caithereine or kettering or kettenring and several other spellings.