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ocelot

 - 3 dictionary results

oc⋅e⋅lot

  [os-uh-lot, oh-suh-]
Use ocelot in a Sentence
–noun
a spotted leopardlike cat, Felis pardalis, ranging from Texas through South America: now greatly reduced in number and endangered in the U.S.
Origin:
1765–75; < F, appar. arbitrary shortening of Nahuatl tlālōcēlōtl ocelot, equiv. to tlāl(li) earth, land + ōcēlōtl jaguar

Related forms:
oc⋅e⋅loid, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ocelot
oc·e·lot   (ŏs'ə-lŏt', ō'sə-)   
n.  A nocturnal wildcat (Felis pardalis or Leopardus pardalis) of the brush and forests of the southwest United States and Central and South America, having a grayish or yellow coat with black spots.

[French, from Nahuatl ocelotl.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ocelot 
"large wildcat of Central and South America," 1775, from Fr. ocelot, formed in Fr. by naturalist de Buffon (1707-1788), from Nahuatl ocelotl "jaguar" (in full tlalocelotl, a compound formed with tlalli "field").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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