leopard

UK/ˈlɛp.əd//ˈlɛp.ɚd/

leopard noun: a large wild cat with a spotted coat native to Africa and Asia (Panthera pardus).

Image: Sumeet Moghe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

leopard (plural leopards)

A large wild cat with a spotted coat native to Africa and Asia (Panthera pardus).
- During all such cases when we were present they responded by giving repeated alarm calls, even when the leopard was already feeding on a carcass. We wanted to determine whether vervets knew enough about the behavior of leopards to recognize that, even in the absence of a leopard, a carcass in a...1990, Dorothy L. Cheney, How Monkeys See the World: Inside the Mind of Another Species, published 1992, page 284
- The leopard (Panthera pardus or Felis pardus cf tulliana) is a close relative of the lion, but biblical references mentioning it are very few, suggesting that it was not as common.1998, Oded Borowski, Every Living Thing: Daily Use of Animals in Ancient Israel, page 201
1. (especially) The male of the species P. pardus, as distinguished from a leopardess.
(broadly) A similar-looking, large wild cat named after the leopard.
- There are plenty of beautiful cats among the thirty-nine species in the Felidae family, but the three leopards—clouded, common, and snow—may be the most visually stunning. Cloaked in the most beautiful fur of any cat, the reclusive clouded leopard is the Greta Garbo of the lot; it lives a solitary...2005, Eric Dinerstein, Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations, page 81
1. (broadly) A clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa or Neofelis diardi), a large wild cat native to Asia.
2. (broadly) The snow leopard (Panthera uncia), a large wild cat native to Asia.
A lion passant guardant.
- Sometimes there is confusion over the heraldic leopard, the question being—When is a leopard not a leopard? There is a theory that the lion and leopard were the same thing, and that they were named entirely depending on their attitude—thus if the animal was passant guardant it was a leopard, but...1968, Charles MacKinnon of Dunakin, The Observer's Book of Heraldry, pages 68–69
Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Phalanta, having black markings on an orange base.

Proper noun capitalized: Leopard

Leopard

A surname.

leopard meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

leopard in Hindi

a large wild cat with a spotted coat, Panthera pardus: तेंदुआ tenduā, तेंदुई tenduī, तेँदुआ tẽduā

leopard in Tamil

a large wild cat with a spotted coat, Panthera pardus: சிறுத்தைப்புலி ciṟuttaippuli

leopard in Marathi

a large wild cat with a spotted coat, Panthera pardus: बिबट्या bibaṭyā

leopard in Urdu

leopard: تیندوا tenduā

More languagesFewer languages

leopard in Bengali: চিতাবাঘ citabagh
leopard in Telugu: చిరుతపులి cirutapuli
leopard in Malayalam: പുലി puli, പുള്ളിപ്പുലി puḷḷippuli
leopard in Kannada: ಕಿರುಬ kiruba
leopard in Punjabi: تیندوا tendūā, ਚਿੱਤਰਾ cittarā, چترا cittarā
leopard in Gujarati: દીપડો dīpḍo
leopard in Odia: ଚିତାବାଘ
leopard in Sanskrit: तीक्ष्णदंष्ट्रक tīkṣṇadaṃṣṭraka, द्वीपिन् dvīpin, शार्दूल śārdūlá, व्याल vyā̀la
leopard in Sinhala: කොටි ගණය koṭi gaṇaya, කොටියා koṭiyā
leopard in Assamese: নাহৰফুটুকী বাঘ nahorphutuki bagh, বাঘ bagh
leopard in Nepali: चितुवा cituwā
leopard in Pashto: يوز yúz
leopard in Tagalog: leyopardo
leopard in Arabic: نِمْر nimr, نَمِر namir, فَهْد fahd
leopard in Malay: harimau bintang, macan tutul
leopard in Indonesian: macan tutul
leopard in Persian: پلنگ palang
leopard in Thai: เสือดาว sʉ̌ʉa-daao
leopard in Vietnamese: báo, beo, cọp gấm, báo hoa mai
leopard in Myanmar: ကျားသစ် kya:sac

Examples of leopard in a sentence

During all such cases when we were present they responded by giving repeated alarm calls, even when the leopard was already feeding on a carcass.1990, Dorothy L. Cheney, How Monkeys See the World: Inside the Mind of Another Species, published 1992, page 284:
Leopard skins have always been desirable commodities because of their spectacular spotted patterns.2005, Richard Ellis, Tiger Bone & Rhino Horn: The Destruction of Wildlife for Traditional Chinese Medicine, page 197:
There are plenty of beautiful cats among the thirty-nine species in the Felidae family, but the three leopards—clouded, common, and snow—may be the most visually stunning.2005, Eric Dinerstein, Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations, page 81:
Sometimes there is confusion over the heraldic leopard, the question being—When is a leopard not a leopard?1968, Charles MacKinnon of Dunakin, The Observer's Book of Heraldry, pages 68–69:

All 40 example sentences with leopard

Synonyms of leopard

All synonyms of leopard

Forms of leopard

plural	leopards
alternative form (obsolete)	lybard
alternative form (obsolete)	libbard

Plural of leopard: leopards

Origin of leopard

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).

Words formed from leopard

Questions about leopard

What does leopard mean?: Leopard means a large wild cat with a spotted coat native to Africa and Asia (Panthera pardus).
What is leopard in Hindi?: Leopard in Hindi is तेंदुआ (tenduā), तेंदुई (tenduī), तेँदुआ (tẽduā). See Leopard meaning in Hindi.
How do you use leopard in a sentence?: During all such cases when we were present they responded by giving repeated alarm calls, even when the leopard was already feeding on a carcass.
What part of speech is leopard?: Leopard can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce leopard?: Leopard is pronounced /ˈlɛp.əd/ (UK).
What is the plural of leopard?: The plural of leopard is leopards.

Words near leopard in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-leopard.ogg.

Cite this entry: “leopard.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/leopard. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.