leopardus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɫe.ɔˈpar.dʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [le.oˈpar.dus]^[1]

Forms

leopardus m (genitive leopardī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin leō (“lion”) + pardus (“leopard, panther”).^[2][3][4] The OLD thinks it is perhaps a Greek formation, and Wiktionary derives it from Ancient Greek λεόπαρδος (leópardos).^[2][1] The ancients thought the animal a cross between a lioness and a male pard, as Isidore of Seville and a scholiast on Horace explain.^[5][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Old Latin Bible, the Itala, after 220 AD.^[3] The Historia Augusta mentions Libyan leopards and disarmed leopards.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

It was the leopard, a Late Latin word found in the Historia Augusta.^[2][7][8] Isidore of Seville says, citing Pliny, that it is born from the adultery of a lioness and a pard and forms a third kind.^[5]

Medieval writers used it of the leopard and of a leopard skin.^[9] English leopard came from Old French lebard in the late 13th century.^[6]

Timeline

• after 220 AD – The Itala uses it.^[3]
• 4th/5th century AD – The Historia Augusta mentions leopards.^[7][3]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains its origin.^[5][3]
• late 13th century – English leopard is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A leopard.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A leopard skin.^[9]

Word family

• leopardālis
• leopardinus

Related words

• pardus
• leo
• English leopard

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press