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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for April 14, 1999
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leopard [n. LEP-urd]
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A leopard is a large cat, having fur with rosette markings on a
lighter background, or black fur. There are several species
throughout Africa and southern Asia.
It might seem that the name has something to do with leaping, and in
fact leopards are very good leapers. The name has been spelled
"lepard," "lippard," or even "leapard," but the "leap" connection is
false. Actually, the word is a combination of two words meaning
"cat."
The name comes from Late Greek leopardos, which is a combination of
leon (lion) and pardos (pard). What's a pard? In Middle English, a
pard was a "great cat," and the word is still considered valid today.
So a leopard is a "lion-great cat."
Leopards were once thought to be hybrids between lions and other cats.
In modern classification the leopard family includes the African
leopard, the Asian snow leopard, the cheetah, and the black leopard,
or black panther.
Today's Cool Fact is about snow leopards:
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/04/14.html
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