How was the tabby cat named?

Long, long ago, in tine city of Baghdad there was a section of the town called Attabi. No, they weren't over run with tabby cats. The people of this section were weavers and they produced a special dappled cloth cared tabby, named after their section of town.

With some changes, the word was inter used to describe almost any kind of mottled, moire or striped cloth. The name seemed natural to describe any sort of dappled or brindled animal    especially striped and brindled cats, Nowadays the word seems to have lost its former meanings and is used only to describe the tabby cat.