Etymologically
Log in

leopardus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 21:11. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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

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