Origin of the word Catamaran

From www.yourdictionary.com, Word Of The Day, Feb. 11, 2006

Today's Word: Catamaran (Noun)

Pronunciation: ['kæ-tê-mê-ræn]

Definition 1: A boat with two parallel floats connected by a frame or shallow transverse hull; a raft made of logs lashed together.

Usage 1: Abraham Sukumar, who lives in Chennai (Madras) India, where
today's word originates, wrote us what amounts to a delightful essay on
the term, which we are passing on to you virtually unaltered. We thought
that those of you suffering through the winter in northern climes would
appreciate this little breath of summer.

Suggested Usage: The fishermen of Chennai launch their catamarans before sunrise and paddle furiously until they are beyond the waves that beat the shore. They then unfurl sails and the seaward breeze does the rest. They reach the fishing grounds in the Bay of Bengal by late morning and lay their nets. Early in the afternoon they gather their catch and once again unfurl their sail and the evening landward breeze brings them back home by five in the evening. On the beach they auction their catch.

Etymology: The word derives from the Tamil word for a craft that is
used to this day by fishermen on the southeastern coast of the Indian
subcontinent. In Tamil, a Dravidian (non-Indo-European) language spoken to the south of India, the word kattu means "to tie" and maram means "tree, wood." The craft is literally tied together trees: five or more logs so fashioned that when tied together they have the aspect of a shallow boat. When the Pallava kings built the rock temples in Mamallapurum from the 5th to 8th centuries, fishermen must have used the same type of craft to go to sea and maybe for a thousand years before that.

—Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com