Also 8 chittah, 9 cheeta, chetah. [a. Hind. chītā, f. Skr. chitraka speckled, variegated.]
The Hunting Leopard, Felis jubata, which is tamed and used for hunting deer in India.
[1704. trans. Caveri’s Trav., in Churchill’s Coll., IV. 198. There are three sorts of Tigers, called Bibo, Cito, and the Royal.]
1781. Phil. Trans., LXXI. 2. The hunting Leopard, or Indian Chittah.
1823. Sport. Mag., LXII. 282. The cheeta resembles the panther, but is taller and lightly made.
1881. Hunter, Gaz. Ind., IV. 619. The cheetah or hunting leopard must be carefully distinguished from the leopard proper.
¶ It has been suggested that this animal is referred to by Shaks. (2 Hen. IV., II. iv. 105) as ‘tame Cheater’; but apart from the fact that this phrase elsewhere has a clear meaning, no channel is known through which Shakespeare could have heard of the Cheetah.
