Etymology

leopard

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Today it means: A large wild cat with a spotted coat native to Africa and Asia (Panthera pardus). Full definition →

Middle English leopard ← Old French leopard ← Late Latin leopardus
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The story

  1. Old Persian · derived from[Term?]
  2. Ancient Greek · derived fromλεόπαρδος“leopon, lipard”
  3. Late Latin · derived fromleopardus“leopon, lipard”
  4. Old French · derived fromleopard“leopard”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromleopard
  6. English todayleopard

From Middle English leopard, leopart, lepard, leperd, from Old French leopard (“leopard”), from Late Latin leopardus (“leopon, lipard”) from late Ancient Greek λεόπαρδος (leópardos, “leopon, lipard”), from λέων (léōn, “lion”) + πάρδος (párdos, “pard, male leopard”), from earlier πάρδαλις (párdalis, “leopard”), probably from an unattested Old Persian [Term?] term ancestral to Middle Persian [script needed] (palang), Khwarezmian [script needed] (plyk), Sogdian [script needed] (pwrδnk), Pashto پړانګ (pṛāng). Compare Persian پلنگ (palang) and Sanskrit पृदाकु (pṛdāku, “panther”). First attested in the late 13th c. (early 13th c. as a surname).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.