The English word "kite" is from the Old English "cyta" which is of unknown origin. A kite is mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer's in his "Knight's Tale". The early fifteenth century Hengwrt manuscript contains the lines: "Ther cam a kyte, whil þt they were so wrothe That bar awey the boon bitwix hem bothe." The first recorded use of the word "kite" for a toy that is attached to a length of string and flown in the air dates from the seventeenth century.