Yaguar
/ˈjæɡ.wɑːr/noun
An obsolete or variant English spelling of jaguar, the large spotted cat of the Americas.
Did you know?The original Tupi word yaguara could refer broadly to a fierce or dangerous animal, while European writers gradually narrowed it to the jaguar.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Colonial period
Tupi
yaguara
“A jaguar or fierce, dangerous animal”
16th Century
Portuguese
jaguar
“The large American cat, borrowed from Indigenous South American speech”
16th–17th Century
French
jaguar
“The jaguar; an adopted form used in European natural-history writing”
17th Century
English
yaguar
“An early English spelling of jaguar”
Modern English
English
jaguar
“The standard spelling for the large spotted cat of the Americas”
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