lion

Meanings

Noun

• A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
• Any of various extant and extinct big cats, especially the mountain lion.
• A Chinese foo dog.
• An individual who shows strength and courage, attributes associated with the lion.
• A famous person regarded with interest and curiosity.
• A light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.
• An old Scottish coin, with a lion on the obverse, worth 74 shillings.

Adjective

• Of the light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.

Origin

• From Middle English lyoun, lion, leon, borrowed from Old French lion, from Latin leō, (accusative: leōnem), from Ancient Greek λέων. Some argue that it is a borrowing from a Semitic language; however evidence is not clear and the relation with Proto-Semitic *labiʾ- is not solid. Semitic "labi/lavi" could either be a parent term to the Greek one or both could have evolved independently from a now lost root. Leo, leu, lev, and Lyon.