Cat Words.
Chatoyant: Lustrous, Like a Cat’s Eye
Having a shimmering, glistening nature.
Once you know that the ch- in chatoyant is pronounced as an sh-, the association with the French word chat, for cat, may become much more clear. And, as much as that’s a great way to remember the meaning of the word (shimmering, glimmering, lustrous, iridescent, etc. — as a cat’s eye), the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) doesn’t solidify the relationship between the two words (though it definitely mentions cats numerous times in the definition).
Other dictionaries do expand on that relationship, however. Merriam-Webster asserts that “[c]hatoyant derives from the present participle of chatoyer, a French verb that literally means ‘to shine like a cat’s eyes.’ ” And, really, that’s good enough for me, as chat and chatoyant definitely seem related, given all of the talk of cat eyes in the definitions.
Oddly, the OED marks chatoyant as obsolete, but the word seems fairly well used still. There’s even a Wikipedia page on chatoyancy, as this is a common term to describe certain lustrous minerals and/or polishings of minerals to achieve shimmering, luminous effects. The page notes that…
