Etymologically
Log in

panther

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 03:16. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈpænθə/[1]
  • US: /ˈpænθəɹ/, /ˈpæntə(ɹ)/[1]

Etymology

The word was first taken into Old English, as pandher, borrowed from Latin panthēra (“leopard, large spotted cat”).[2][3] It was borrowed again in Middle English as pantere, panter,[4][5][6] from Old French pantere, recorded from the first half of the 12th century, and the Anglo-Norman forms panthere, pantere, and directly from the Latin word.[2][6][5][7] The modern spelling panther appears in Caxton's translation of Aesop's fables (1484), probably shaped on the Latin.[5] The Latin noun comes from Ancient Greek πάνθηρ (pánthēr, “panther, leopard”),[2][6][8][9] which the OED calls evidently a loanword of unknown origin.[2] Etymonline and Hoad think it of Eastern origin, Barnhart probably from a language of Asia Minor,[6][9][5] and Klein and Merriam-Webster connect it with the source of a Sanskrit word for "tiger".[4][10] In antiquity the name was explained as παν- (pan-, “all”) and θήρ (thḗr, “wild beast”), a folk etymology that gave rise to many fables.[2][6][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A spotted big cat believed to be distinct from the leopard: the OED's first record is the Old English poem The Panther,[2] and Barnhart finds Middle English panter, leopard, before 1250.[5]

Semantic evolution

Latin had both panthēra and pardus, leopard, and the two names caused confusion: until the mid 19th century many naturalists thought the panther and the leopard were separate species.[12][13] Hoad notes that the word was at first used with only a vague idea of the animal.[9] In medieval bestiaries the folk etymology from Greek pan-, all, was read as a sign of the beast's many colours and virtues, as in Philippe de Thaun's French Bestiaire (about 1130).[2] Barnhart records a use in alchemy in 1471, suggesting the spotted, many-coloured look of certain substances.[5] In America the name was given to the puma or cougar, from 1683 in the OED and by 1730 in Etymonline and Barnhart,[2][6][5] and for a time to the jaguar.[2][9] The figurative use for a fierce or elusive person dates from Shelley (1822).[2] Since 1967 a Panther was a member of the Black Panther party in the United States.[2][10] American slang used panther (panther sweat) for strong, cheap liquor from 1931.[2][14]

Timeline

  • Old English – recorded in the poem The Panther.[2]
  • before 1250 – panter, leopard.[5]
  • 1471 – in alchemy, of a spotted or many-coloured appearance.[5]
  • 1484 – the spelling panthere, in Caxton's Aesop.[5]
  • 1656 – the name of a drug (now obsolete).[2]
  • 1683 – the puma or cougar, in a letter of William Penn;[2] Etymonline and Barnhart date this use to 1730.[6][5]
  • 1775 – a European moth (obsolete).[2]
  • 1822 – figuratively, a fierce or elusive person, in Shelley.[2]
  • 1897 – to feast with panthers, in Oscar Wilde's De Profundis.[2]
  • 1931 – strong liquor, US slang.[2]
  • 1967 – a member of the Black Panthers.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A leopard, especially one with black fur.[15][10][2]
  2. (US and Canada) The puma or cougar.[15][10][2]
  3. The jaguar.[10][14]
  4. Panther: a member of the Black Panther party.[10][2]
  5. A fierce, powerful or elusive person or thing.[2][6]

Word family

  • black panther
  • Gray Panther

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins