Bönhase

Etymology
From, , from + , the former being cognate of. The word is first attested in the early 14th century as a personal name (and is thus probably even older). Since the 15th century it meant “illegally working craftsperson”. The sense “cat” is only attested later on, but there can be little doubt that it is the original meaning. Compare, , etc., which in fact must be loan translations of the Low German unless there were some ancient source for all of them. It was formerly supposed that the illegal workers were called as a pun on 🇨🇬, whence later, but this is highly unlikely since Greek studies were only just being revived in the 15th century. More probably these workers were simply compared to stray cats who holed up in lofts and fled when chased (as they commonly were by the members of the official guilds).

Noun

 * 1)  cat; roof rabbit
 * 2)  A skilled manual worker or craftsperson who works illegally, originally without the concession of the respective guild.
 * 3)  botcher; bungler incompetent worker
 * 1)  botcher; bungler incompetent worker