a long-limbed, nocturnal African cat, Felis serval, about the size of a bobcat, having a tawny coat spotted with black: now rare in many former habitats.
Origin: 1765–75; < Neo-Latin < Portuguese (lobo) cerval lynx, literally, staglike (wolf) < Late Latin cervālis deerlike, equivalent to Latin cerv(us) stag + -ālis-al1