Meanings
plural cheetahs · alternative archaic chetah · alternative archaic cheeta
- biologyA distinctive member (Acinonyx jubatus) of the cat family, slightly smaller than the leopard, but with proportionately longer limbs and a smaller head; native to Africa and southeast Asia (where it is nearly extinct) and also credited with being the fastest terrestrial animal.
Synonyms: guepard, hunting cat, hunting leopard
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA distinctive member (Acinonyx jubatus) of the cat family, slightly smaller than the leopard, but with proportionately longer limbs and a smaller head; native to Africa and southeast Asia (where it is nearly extinct) and also credited with being the fastest terrestrial animal.
More synonyms by meaning
nounlong-legged spotted cat of Africa and southwestern Asia having nonretractile claws; the swiftest mammal; can be trained to run down game
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Sanskritचित्र“multicolored, speckled”
- Hindiचीता“leopard, panther”
- Englishcheetah
Borrowed from Hindi चीता (cītā, “leopard, panther”), ultimately from Sanskrit चित्र (citra, “multicolored, speckled”) (akin to Old High German haitar (“bright”) > German heiter; Old Norse heiðr (“bright”)) + Sanskrit काय (kāya, “body”), thus “having a spotted body”.
More words from Hindi, Sanskrit
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans jagluiperd
- jagluiperdAcinonyx jubatus
Arabic فَهْد, شِيتَه
- فَهْد (fahd)Acinonyx jubatus
- شِيتَه (šītah)Acinonyx jubatus
Basque gepardo
- gepardoAcinonyx jubatus
Bengali চিতা
- চিতা (cita)Acinonyx jubatus
Bulgarian гепа́рд
- гепа́рд (gepárd)Acinonyx jubatus
Catalan guepard
- guepardAcinonyx jubatus
Chinese Mandarin 獵豹 /猎豹
- 獵豹 /猎豹 (lièbào)Acinonyx jubatus
Czech gepard
- gepardAcinonyx jubatus
Danish gepard
- gepardAcinonyx jubatus
Dutch jachtluipaard, cheeta
- jachtluipaardAcinonyx jubatus
- cheetaAcinonyx jubatus
Esperanto gepardo
- gepardoAcinonyx jubatus
Estonian gepard
- gepardAcinonyx jubatus
Finnish gepardi
- gepardiAcinonyx jubatus
French guépard
- guépardAcinonyx jubatus
German Gepard
- GepardAcinonyx jubatus
Greek γατόπαρδος, τσιτάχ
- γατόπαρδος (gatópardos)Acinonyx jubatus
- τσιτάχ (tsitách)Acinonyx jubatus
Hebrew ברדלס \ בַּרְדְּלָס, צ׳יטה \ צִ׳יטָה
- ברדלס \ בַּרְדְּלָס (bardelás)Acinonyx jubatus
- צ׳יטה \ צִ׳יטָה (chíta)Acinonyx jubatus
Hindi चीता
- चीता (cītā)Acinonyx jubatus
Hungarian gepárd
- gepárdAcinonyx jubatus
Icelandic blettatígur
- blettatígurAcinonyx jubatus
Indonesian citah
- citahAcinonyx jubatus
Irish síota, liopard fiaigh
- síotaAcinonyx jubatus
- liopard fiaighAcinonyx jubatus
Italian ghepardo
- ghepardoAcinonyx jubatus
Japanese チーター, 狩猟豹
- チーター (chītā)Acinonyx jubatus
- 狩猟豹 (shuryōhyō)Acinonyx jubatus
Korean 치타
- 치타 (chita)Acinonyx jubatus
Latvian gepards
- gepardsAcinonyx jubatus
Lithuanian gepardas
- gepardasAcinonyx jubatus
Malay چيته, citah
- چيتهAcinonyx jubatus
- citahAcinonyx jubatus
Māori tīta
- tītaAcinonyx jubatus
Norwegian Bokmål gepard
- gepardAcinonyx jubatus
Persian یوزپلنگ, چیتا
- یوزپلنگ (yuzpalang)Acinonyx jubatus
- چیتا (čitâ)Acinonyx jubatus
- یوز (yuz)Acinonyx jubatus
Polish gepard
- gepardAcinonyx jubatus
Portuguese guepardo, chita
- guepardoAcinonyx jubatus
- chitaAcinonyx jubatus
Romanian ghepard
- ghepardAcinonyx jubatus
Russian гепа́рд
- гепа́рд (gepárd)Acinonyx jubatus
Slovak gepard
- gepardAcinonyx jubatus
Spanish guepardo, chita
- guepardoAcinonyx jubatus
- chitaAcinonyx jubatus
- gatopardoAcinonyx jubatus
Swahili duma
- dumaAcinonyx jubatus
Swedish gepard, jaktleopard
- gepardAcinonyx jubatus
- jaktleopardAcinonyx jubatus
Tagalog gepardo
- gepardoAcinonyx jubatus
Tamil சிறுத்தை
- சிறுத்தை (ciṟuttai)Acinonyx jubatus
Thai ชีตาห์
- ชีตาห์ (chii-dtâa)Acinonyx jubatus
Turkish çita
- çitaAcinonyx jubatus
Ukrainian гепа́рд, ґепа́рд
- гепа́рд (hepárd)Acinonyx jubatus
- ґепа́рд (gepárd)Acinonyx jubatus
Urdu چیتا
- چیتا (cītā)Acinonyx jubatus
Vietnamese báo săn, báo bờm
- báo sănAcinonyx jubatus
- báo bờmAcinonyx jubatus
- báo ghêpaAcinonyx jubatus
Welsh llewpart hela, tsita
- llewpart helaAcinonyx jubatus
- tsitaAcinonyx jubatus
Zulu íngululé
- íngululéAcinonyx jubatus
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cheetah
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
cheetah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cheetah
“cheetah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cheetah. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cheetah,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cheetah.
Source: cheetah on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.