From Middle Low German bönhase, bonehase (“cat”), from böne (“loft, attic”) + hase (“hare”), the former being cognate of German Bühne (“stage”). 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 German Dachhase, English roof rabbit, 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 Bönhasen as a pun on Ancient Greek βάναυσος (bánausos, “worker in an ignoble trade”), whence later German Banause, 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).
Bönhase m (weak, genitive Bönhasen, plural Bönhasen)