Meaning & History
From the name of the leopard, the famous feline. The hybrid of a lion and a panther, as is reflected in its name, which is a Greek compound of λέων (leon) "lion" and πάρδοσ (pardos) "male panther". The Greek word is related to Sanskrit pṛdāku, meaning "snake, tiger, panther", and probably derives from a Mediterranean language, such as Egyptian. Panthera Pardus derives from Latin via Greek πάνθηρ (panther). Folk etymology suggests the composition of πᾶν (pan "always, all, every, each, whole" and θήρ (thir) "a wild beast".