lion

(līˈən)

noun

1. A large carnivorous feline mammal (Panthera leo) of Africa and northwest India, having a short tawny coat, a tufted tail, and, in the male, a heavy mane around the neck and shoulders.
2. Any of several large wildcats related to or resembling the lion.
3. a. A very brave person.
   b. A person regarded as fierce or savage.
   c. A noted person; a celebrity: a literary lion.
4. Lion See Leo.

Word History: Old French lion is the source of English lion, and the Old French word comes from Latin leō, leōnis. After that the etymology is less clear. The Latin word is related somehow to Greek leōn, leontos (earlier *lewōn, *lewontos), which appears in the name of the Spartan king Leonidas, “Lion's son,” who perished at Thermopylae. The Greek word is somehow related to Coptic labai, laboi, “lioness.” In turn, Coptic labai is borrowed from a Semitic source related to Hebrew lābī’ and Akkadian labbu. There is also a native ancient Egyptian word, rw (where r can stand for either r or l and vowels were not indicated), which is surely related as well. Since lions were native to Africa, Asia, and Europe in ancient times (Aristotle tells us there were lions in Macedon in his day), we have no way of ascertaining who borrowed which word from whom.