means A large carnivorous big cat of Asia, the biggest of all cats, with an orange coat marked by dark vertical stripes.

from From Greek 'tigris,' the name the ancient Greeks gave the beast, which likely traveled to them from an Iranian or other Eastern source — possibly tied to a word meaning 'arrow' or 'swift,' a nod to the animal's deadly speed. The same root names the Tigris River, the 'fast-flowing' one. Latin took up 'tigris,' and the word padded westward through the languages of Europe to reach English.