catamountain

English

Etymology

From Late Middle English catamountain,[1] from Middle English cat of the mountain (“leopard, panther”).[2]

Pronunciation

Noun

catamountain (plural catamountains)

  1. (also attributively) A leopard, a panther (Panthera pardus); also, an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis).
    (leopard, panther): Synonym: catamount
    • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 16, column 1:
      Goe, charge my Goblins that they grinde their ioynts / With dry Convultions, ſhorten vp their ſinewes / With aged Cramps, & more pinch-ſpotted make them, / Than Pard, or Cat o' Mountaine.
  2. (by extension) A man living in the mountains.

Alternative forms

Translations
leopard, panther — see leopard,‎ panther
ocelot — see ocelot

References
  1. “catamount, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. “cat of the mountain, n.” under “cat, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007; “catamountain | cat o’ mountain, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1889.

Further reading
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