The first Catamaran was created in India borrowing its modern name from the original Tamil word kattumaram meaning logs bound together.

Catamaran tree meaning. The word catamaran is a loan word from Tamil from கடடமரம kaṭṭumaram from kaṭṭu ribbon bundle and maram tree meaning boat made from tied tree trunks. The Madras catamaran is a small Indian raft type. Despite the name it is not a catamaran but a raft.

However the original kattumaram did not refer to double-hulled boats at all but to a type of single-hulled raft of the Tamil people made of. -- used as a surf boat and for other purposes on the coasts of the East and West Indies and South America. That word ironically is the origin for the English word catamaran now applied to sleek luxury yachts.

A primitive raft made of logs lashed together. A catamarans distinguishing feature is its two-part structure. A raft consisting of two or more logs tied together.

So it basically means tree or wood pieces tied up to form the shape of a boat with a double hull. They started off as simple fishing rafts made from bound tree trunks and were favored vessels throughout Polynesia and Micronesia. It is of ancient lineage used by the Polynesians to settle in far distant islands.

These boats date back to the early centuries. A sailing or sometimes motored vessel with twin hulls held parallel by a rigid framework. An old kind of fire-ship long superseded.

The raft type has been widespread on the Indian coromandel coast for centuries and is mainly used for fishing until the very recent. Kata-mar-an or kat-amar-an n. World News SBS 11 July 2019 A British catamaran capsized on the River Hudson earlier today ahead a dramatic race in front of thousands of fans at the New York SailGP.