cheetah

• chetah, cheeta (archaic)

Borrowed from Hindi चीता (cītā, “leopard, panther”), ultimately from Sanskrit चित्र (citra, “multicolored, speckled”) (akin to Old High German haitar (“bright”) [1] > German heiter; Old Norse heiðr (“bright”)) + Sanskrit काय (kāya, “body”), thus “having a spotted body”.

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃiːtə/, /ˈt͡ʃiːtɑ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːtə
• Homophones: Chita, cheater (in non-rhotic accents)

cheetah (plural cheetahs)

1. A 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.

• guepard (archaic), hunting cat, hunting leopard

• American cheetah (†Miracinonyx trumanii)
• do cheetah flips
• king cheetah

• → Portuguese: chita
• → Spanish: chita

• cheetah on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Acinonyx jubatus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Acinonyx jubatus on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons