Cabernet is a distortion of language for carmeneth.
There are several hypotheses concerning the name origin. Some relate the word to the carmine color of the cabernet, while others tend to say that originally comes from Arabic language and means vine. Only the suffix "et" seems to agree everyone, in Occitan language "et" means little in relation to the size of the berries. Sauvignon would be related to the forest and the wild character of Sauvignon Blanc.