Editing Cheetah (section)

==Etymology==
The vernacular name "cheetah" is derived from [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] {{langx|ur|چیتا}} and {{langx|hi|चीता}} ({{lang|hi-Latn|ćītā}}).<ref>{{cite book |last=Platts |first=J. T. |author-link=John Thompson Platts |year=1884 |title=A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi, and English |location=London |publisher=[[W. H. Allen & Co.]] |chapter=چيتا चीता ćītā |page=470 |chapter-url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/platts_query.py?qs=%DA%86%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%A7&searchhws=yes&matchtype=exact |access-date=27 September 2022 |archive-date=27 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927104057/https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/platts_query.py?qs=%DA%86%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%A7&searchhws=yes&matchtype=exact |url-status=live}}</ref> This in turn comes from {{langx|sa|चित्रय}} ({{lang|sa-Latn|Chitra-ya}}) meaning 'variegated', 'adorned' or 'painted'.<ref>{{cite book |last=Macdonell |first=A. A. |author-link=Arthur Anthony Macdonell |year=1929 |title=A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary with Transliteration, Accentuation, and Etymological Analysis throughout |location=London |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |chapter=चित्रय kitra-ya |page=68 |chapter-url=https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/macdonell_query.py?qs=%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%AF&searchhws=yes |access-date=5 April 2019 |archive-date=2 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702082049/https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/macdonell_query.py?qs=%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%AF&searchhws=yes |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the past, the cheetah was often called "hunting leopard" because they could be tamed and used for [[coursing]].<ref name=marker1>{{cite book |editor1=Marker, L. |editor2=Boast, L. K. |editor3=Schmidt-Kuentzel, A. |title=Cheetahs: Biology and Conservation |date=2018 |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-12-804088-1 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3rXDgAAQBAJ&pg=3 |chapter=A brief history of cheetah conservation |last1=Marker |first1=L. |last2=Grisham |first2=J. |last3=Brewer |first3=B. |name-list-style=amp |pages=3–16 |access-date=25 April 2020 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407160709/https://books.google.com/books?id=H3rXDgAAQBAJ&pg=3 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[generic name (biology)|generic name]] ''Acinonyx'' probably derives from the combination of two [[Greek language|Greek]] words: {{lang|el|ἁκινητος}} ({{lang|el-Latn|akinitos}}) meaning 'unmoved' or 'motionless', and {{lang|el|ὄνυξ}} ({{lang|el-Latn|onyx}}) meaning 'nail' or 'hoof'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Liddell |first1=H. G. | author1-link=Henry Liddell |last2=Scott |first2=R. |author2-link=Robert Scott (philologist) |name-list-style=amp |year=1889 |title=An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |pages=27, 560 |chapter=ἁκινητος  |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/intermediategree00lidd/page/n32}}</ref> A rough translation is "immobile nails", a reference to the cheetah's limited ability to retract its claws.<ref name=Rosevear1974>{{cite book |title=The Carnivores of West Africa |last=Rosevear |first=D. R. |year=1974 |publisher=[[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-565-00723-2 |pages=492–512 |chapter=Genus ''Acinonyx'' Brookes, 1828 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/carnivoresofwest00rose#page/492/mode/1up}}</ref> A similar meaning can be obtained by the combination of the Greek prefix ''a–'' (implying a lack of) and {{lang|el|κῑνέω}} ({{lang|el-Latn|kīnéō}}) meaning 'to move' or 'to set in motion'.<ref name="skinner">{{cite book |last1=Skinner |first1=J. D. |last2=Chimimba |first2=C. T. |name-list-style=amp |title=The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion |date=2005 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0521844185 |edition=3rd |chapter=Subfamily Acinonychinae Pocock 1917 |pages=379–384 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F23lAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA379 |access-date=5 January 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328013025/https://books.google.com/books?id=F23lAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA379 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] {{lang|la|jubatus}} is [[Latin]] for 'crested, having a mane'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=C. T. |author1-link=Charlton Thomas Lewis |last2=Short |first2=C. |name-list-style=amp |year=1879 |title=A Latin Dictionary |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |chapter=jubatus |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.61236/page/n1033 |page=1014}}</ref>

A few old generic names such as ''Cynailurus'' and ''Cynofelis'' allude to the similarities between the cheetah and [[canid]]s.<ref name="marker7">{{cite book |title=Cheetahs: Biology and Conservation |editor1=Marker, L. |editor2=Boast, L. K. |editor3=Schmidt-Kuentzel, A. |last1=Meachen |first1=J. |last2=Schmidt-Kuntzel |first2=A. |last3=Haefele |first3=H. |last4=Steenkamp |first4=G. |last5=Robinson |first5=J. M. |last6=Randau |first6=M. A. |last7=McGowan |first7=N. |last8=Scantlebury |first8=D. M. |last9=Marks |first9=N. |name-list-style=amp |last10=Maule |first10=A. |last11=Marker |first11=L. |date=2018 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-804088-1 |location=London |pages=93–106 |chapter=Cheetah specialization: physiology and morphology |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3rXDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA93 |access-date=26 March 2023 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328013046/https://books.google.com/books?id=H3rXDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA93 |url-status=live}}</ref>