panther
noun /ˈpænθə(r)/
/ˈpænθər/
- a leopard (= a large wild animal of the cat family), especially a black one
- (also cougar, mountain lion (all North American English), puma especially in British English)a large American wild animal of the cat family, with yellow-brown or grey furTopics Animalsc2
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French pantere, from Latin panthera, from Greek panthēr. In Latin, pardus ‘leopard’ also existed; the two terms led to confusion: until the mid 19th cent. many taxonomists regarded the panther and the leopard as separate species.