catamount
/ˈkætəmaʊnt/
"catamount" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“catamount” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A wild animal of the family Felidae, especially the cougar, mountain lion or puma (Puma concolor).
Corpus desk
Index EN-catamount · catamount · English
catamount · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | catamount |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkætəmaʊnt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “catamount” in English
Rare enough to double-check
catamount is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkætəmaʊnt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for catamount, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of catamountain (“leopard, panther; ocelot; man living in the mountains”), from Late Middle English catamountain, from Middle English catte of the mountayne, cate of þe mounttaynne (“leopard, panther”). The correct English form is catamount, spelled C-A-T-A-M-O-U-N-T.
Definition
- 1A wild animal of the family Felidae, especially the cougar, mountain lion or puma (Puma concolor).
- 2Synonym of catamountain (“a leopard, a panther (Panthera pardus)”).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how catamount appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Uncle Charley's voice was very soft and there was a weary note in it. "Great snarlin' catamounts, but I'm tired."
'He would have rid that horse, too,' pa says, 'if I hadn't a stopped him. A durn spotted critter wilder than a catty-mount. A deliberate flouting of her and me.'
Etymology
Clipping of catamountain (“leopard, panther; ocelot; man living in the mountains”), from Late Middle English catamountain, from Middle English catte of the mountayne, cate of þe mounttaynne (“leopard, panther”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.