▪ I. serval
(ˈsɜːvəl)
Also serval cat.
[a. mod.L. serval, F. serval (Buffon, 1765), a. Pg. (lobo) cerval lynx (cf. F. loup-cervier).]
† a. A name applied (after Buffon) to some Asiatic wild cat or lynx; also to an American animal resembling this. Obs. b. A carnivorous quadruped, Felis serval, native of S. Africa, having a tawny coat spotted with black, a short tail and large ears; the bush-cat (bush n.1 11).
| 1771 Pennant Syn. Quadrupeds 186 Called by the natives of Malabar, the Maraputé; by the Portuguese, the Serval. 1800 Shaw Gen. Zool. I. 369 The Serval is a native of India and Tibet and is an extremely fierce and rapacious animal. Ibid. 370 American Serval..inhabits North America..is considered as a mild and gentle animal. 1865 Lubbock Prehist. Times viii. 262 In the Genista Cave at Gibraltar..[they] have discovered..the leopard, lynx, serval [etc.]. 1899 F. V. Kirby Sport E.C. Africa 321 The serval is a tireless hunter, and runs down its prey. 1919 F. W. Fitzsimons Nat. Hist. S. Afr.: Mammals I. 142 These Serval Cats often break cover. 1933 N. Douglas Looking Back II. 340 Somebody shot a serval cat. |
▪ II. serval
obs. Sc. form of servile.