​PANTHER, another name for the leopard (q.v), in America as the name of the puma (q.v.). The word is adaptation of Lat. panlhera; Gr. πάνθηρthe supposed derivation, of which from πᾶς, all and θήρ, and , animal, gave rise to tailes and fables in medieval bestiaries and later scientific works. The panther was supposed to be a distinct animal from the pardus, pard, the leopard, to which also many legends are attached. In modern times a distinction had been unscientfically drawn between a larger type of leopard to which the name panther was given, and a smaller and more graceful specimen.