leopard
Americannoun
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leopards
plural
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a large, spotted Asian or African carnivore, Panthera pardus, of the cat family, usually tawny with black markings; the Old World panther: all leopard populations are threatened or endangered.
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the fur or pelt of this animal.
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any of various related cats resembling this animal.
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Heraldry. a lion represented from the side as walking, usually with one forepaw raised, and looking toward the spectator.
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Numismatics.
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an Anglo-Gallic gold coin issued by Edward III, equal to half a florin, bearing the figure of a leopard.
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a silver Anglo-Gallic coin issued by Henry V.
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Military. Leopard, a 42-ton (38-metric ton) West German tank with a 105 mm gun.
noun
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Also called: panther. a large feline mammal, Panthera pardus, of forests of Africa and Asia, usually having a tawny yellow coat with black rosette-like spots
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any of several similar felines, such as the snow leopard and cheetah
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a feline, Neofelis nebulosa, of SE Asia and Indonesia with a yellowish-brown coat marked with darker spots and blotches
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heraldry a stylized leopard, painted as a lion with the face turned towards the front
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the pelt of a leopard
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of leopard
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English leopard, labarde, lebarde, from Old French leopard, lebard, leupard, from Late Latin leōpardus, from Greek leópardos, syncopated variant of leontópardos, equivalent to leonto- (stem of léōn ) + párdos; see origin at lion, pard 1
Explanation
A leopard is a large feline, a very distant relative of the sweet kitty purring on your lap. A member of the panther family, the leopard is extinct in some regions and considered vulnerable in others. Leopards look similar to jaguars; they both have distinctive rose-shaped markings that act as camouflage, though leopards are slightly smaller and lighter. In rare cases when a leopard's melanin makes it appear totally black, it's called a black panther. The name of this large cat comes from an ancient belief that it was half lion and half panther — the Greek root leopardos means "lion-panther."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When a customer told her she wanted a pair of Khaite’s sold-out, half-calf leopard pants, she reached out to her counterpart and the Khaite CEO made it happen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
A 1990 Denver Business Journal profile noted she had killed a rhinoceros, a lion and a leopard in the preceding year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The squirrel escaped by climbing higher, leaving the leopard clinging on before it eventually made an awkward retreat.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Turtles and tortoises rarely develop the disease, but a white and yellow leopard gecko known in the pet trade as the "lemon frost" morph develops aggressive tumors in about 80% of individuals.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
Mrs. Hameed touches the spot on her throat where her pink leopard headscarf is gathered.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
BFA-related compounds in urine and renal lipid droplets were detected in several felid species, including lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, lynxes, and the Iriomote cat.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Nawee Changpirom has spent years working to rescue trafficked wildlife in Thailand, but even he can sometimes hardly believe the creatures he has found: leopards, hornbills, and once an anteater.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
The cat haven has been operating for 28 years and houses 39 different cat species, including cheetahs, bobcats, clouded leopards, cougars and snow leopards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
For young leopards, survival is far from guaranteed: fewer than half reach independence, with male leopards, lions and other predators among the threats they face.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
They liked these places too because they could watch what the leopards were doing, and they could bark out a warning if they saw a leopard coming too close to their children.
From "The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa" by Alexander Mccall Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
