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Origin and history of panther

panther(n.)

mid-13c., panter, another name for the leopard, from Old French pantere "panther" (12c.) and directly from Latin panthera, from Greek panther "panther, leopard," probably of Oriental origin. An ancient folk-etymology derivation from Greek pan- "all" + thēr "beast" led to many curious fables. The word was applied to the American cougar or puma by 1730.

also from mid-13c.

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Trends of panther

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

cougar
large cat peculiar to the Americas, 1774, from French couguar, Buffon's adaption (influenced by jaguar) of a word the Portuguese picked up in Brazil as çuçuarana, perhaps from Tupi susuarana, from suasu "deer" + rana "false." Another proposed source is Guarani guaçu ara. Evidentl
jaguar
big spotted cat of the Americas (Felis onca), c. 1600, from Portuguese jaguar, from Tupi jaguara, said in old sources to denote any large beast of prey ["tygers and dogs," in Cullen's translation of Abbe Clavigero's "History of Mexico"]. Compare Tupi jacare "alligator." As a type
leopard
leupart "leopard," heraldic or real (12c., Modern French léopard), from Late Latin leopardus, literally "lion-pard, lion-panther...in ancient times to be a hybrid of these two species), from Greek leopardos, from leon "lion" (see lion) + pardos "male panther...," which generally is said to be connected to Sanskrit prdakuh "panther, tiger."...
right
on as an exclamation of approval is recorded by 1925 in African-American vernacular, popularized mid-1960s by the Black Panther...
pertain
early 14c., perteinen, "be attached legally," from Old French partenir "to belong to" and directly from Latin pertinere "to reach, stretch; relate, have reference to; belong, be the right of; be applicable," from per "through" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "through")
act
late 14c., "a thing done," from Latin actus "a doing; a driving, impulse, a setting in motion; a part in a play," and actum "a thing done" (originally a legal term), both from agere "to set in motion, drive, drive forward," hence "to do, perform," figuratively "incite to action;
cat
Old English catt (c. 700) "domestic cat," from West Germanic (c. 400-450), from Proto-Germanic *kattuz (source also of Old Frisian katte, Old Norse köttr, Dutch kat, Old High German kazza, German Katze), from Late Latin cattus. The near-universal European word now, it appeared in
mountain
"natural elevation rising more or less abruptly and attaining a conspicuous height," c. 1200, from Old French montaigne (Modern French montagne), from Vulgar Latin *montanea "mountain, mountain region," noun use of fem. of *montaneus "of a mountain, mountainous," from Latin monta
lion
late 12c., from Old French lion "lion," also figuratively "hero" (12c.), from Latin leonem (nominative leo) "lion; the constellation Leo," from Greek leon (genitive leontos), a word from a non-Indo-European language, perhaps Semitic (compare Hebrew labhi "lion," plural lebaim; Eg
render
late 14c., rendren, rendre, "repeat, say again, recite; translate," from Old French rendre "give back, present, yield" (10c.) and Medieval Latin rendere, from Vulgar Latin *rendere, a variant of Latin reddere "give back, return, restore," from red- "back" (see re-) + combining fo

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