Dictionary

catamountain en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /kætəˈmaʊntɪn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /-t(ə)n/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [-ɾə-] (General-American)
• /kætəˈmaʊnt(ə)n/ (General-American)

Etymology

From Late Middle English catamountain, from Middle English catte of the mountayne, cate of þe mounttaynne (“leopard, panther”).

Meanings

1. (also, attributive) A leopard, a panther (Panthera pardus); also, an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis).
   • 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. 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:
2. (broadly) A man living in the mountains.

Forms

Synonyms

catamount