panda

[ pan-duh ]

noun

1. Also called giant panda. a white-and-black, bearlike mammal, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, now rare and restricted to forest areas of central China containing stands of bamboo, on which it mainly subsists: formerly placed with the raccoon family but now classified as a bear subfamily, Ailuropodinae, or as the sole member of a separate family, Ailuropodidae, which diverged from an ancestral bear lineage.
2. Also called lesser panda. a reddish-brown, raccoonlike mammal, Ailurus fulgens, of mountain forests in the Himalayas and adjacent eastern Asia, subsisting mainly on bamboo and other vegetation, fruits, and insects, and reduced in numbers by collectors: now considered unrelated to the giant panda and usually classified as the sole member of an Old World raccoon subfamily, Ailurinae, which diverged from an ancestral lineage that also gave rise to the New World raccoons.

panda

/ ˈpændə /

noun

1. Also calledgiant panda a large black-and-white herbivorous bearlike mammal, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, related to the raccoons and inhabiting the high mountain bamboo forests of China: family Procyonidae
2. lesser panda or red panda
   a closely related smaller animal resembling a raccoon, Ailurus fulgens, of the mountain forests of S Asia, having a reddish-brown coat and ringed tail

Word History and Origins

Origin of panda¹

1825–35; < French (Cuvier), a name for the lesser panda, perhaps < a Tibeto-Burman language of the southeastern Himalayas

Word History and Origins

Origin of panda¹

C19: via French from a native Nepalese word

Example Sentences

Edinburgh Zoo's baby red panda has died from stress caused by fireworks on Bonfire Night, according to veterinary experts.

From BBC

If Hello Kitty is Japan's ambassador of cute, then angry red panda Aggressive Retsuko - or Aggretsuko - channels the frustrations of an ordinary working woman.

From BBC

Save the pandas is a more popular slogan than save the earthworms, and most people likely care more about protecting flowers than a rare grass or fungi.

From Salon

A little more than two months after two giant pandas — the first sent to the U.S. in 21 years — debuted at the San Diego Zoo, fans can now do a virtual pop-in.

From Los Angeles Times

But then he also appeared in a haunted maze item on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight show, where in a strange exchange he was asked if he was afraid of pandas.

From BBC