|
Snow Leopard With Long Tail
|
Naming and etymology
Both the latinized genus name, Uncia, and the occasional English name ounce are derived from the Old French once, originally used for the European lynx. Once itself is believed to have arisen by back-formation from an earlier variant of lynx, lonce – the "l" of lonce was construed as an abbreviated la ('the'), leaving once to be perceived as the animal's name. This, like the English version ounce, came to be used for other lynx-sized cats, and eventually for the snow leopard.
The snow leopard is also known in its native lands as "wāwrīn pṛāng" (Pashto: واورين پړانګ), "shan" (Ladakhi), "zigsa" (Tibetan), "irves" (Mongolian: ирвэс), "bars" or "barys" (Kazakh: барыс), "ilbirs" (Kyrgyz: Илбирс), "barfānī chītā" Urdu: برفانی چیتا) and "him tendua" (Sanskrit, Hindi: हिम तेन्दुआ).
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the origin of the word panthera is unknown. A folk etymology derives the word from the Greek πάν pan ("all") and thēr (beast of prey) because they can hunt and kill almost anything. It was proposed to have come ultimately into Greek from a Sanskrit word meaning "the yellowish animal" or "whitish-yellow". The Greek word πάνθηρ, pánthēr, referred to all spotted felines generically.
|
|