Cater
late 16th century: from obsolete cater ‘caterer’, from Old French acateor ‘buyer’, from acater ‘buy’ (see cate).
wiktionary
From Middle English catour(“ acater, provisioner”), aphetic form of acatour(“ acater”), from Old French acater(“to buy, to purchase”). Equivalent to cate + -er.
Probably ultimately from French quatre(“ four”), possibly via cater(“ change-ringing”), although Liberman argues for a derivation from a North Germanic prefix meaning " crooked, angled, clumsy" from which he also derives cater-cousin and, via Norse, Old Irish cittach(“ left-handed, awkward”). He finds this more likely than extension of the dice and change-ringing term cater as an adverb, given the likely cognates in other Germanic languages. Caterpillar and caterwaul are unrelated, being derived from cognates to cat, but may have influenced the pronunciation of Liberman's proposed earlier *cate- or undergone similar sound changes.
From French quatre(“ four”). Doublet of cuatro.
etymonline
cater (v.)
c. 1600, "provide food for," from Middle English catour (n.) "buyer of provisions" (c. 1400; late 13c. as a surname), a shortening of Anglo-French achatour "buyer" (Old North French acatour, Old French achatour, 13c., Modern French acheteur), from Old French achater "to buy," originally "to buy provisions," perhaps from Vulgar Latin *accaptare, from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + captare "to take, hold," frequentative of capere "to take," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp."
Or else from Vulgar Latin *accapitare "to add to one's capital," with second element from verbal stem of Latin caput (genitive capitis); see capital (adj.). Figuratively, "act as a purveyor," from 1650s. Related: Catered; catering.
