In 1758, Linnaeus described the tiger in his work Systema Naturae and gave it the scientific

name Felis tigris.[3] In 1929, the British taxonomist Reginald Innes Pocock subordinated the
species under the genus Panthera using the scientific name Panthera tigris.[8]

The word Panthera is probably of Oriental origin and retraceable to the Ancient Greek word
panther, the Latin word panthera, the Old French word pantere, most likely meaning "the
yellowish animal", or from pandarah meaning whitish-yellow. The derivation from Greek pan-
("all") and ther ("beast") may be folk etymology.[9]

The specific epithet, tigris, as well as the common name, tiger, come from the Middle English
tigre and the Old English tigras (a plural word), both used for the animal.[10] These derive from
the Old French tigre, itself a derivative of the Latin word tigris and the Greek word tigris. The
original source may have been the Persian tigra meaning pointed or sharp and the Avestan tigrhi
meaning an arrow, perhaps referring to the speed with which a tiger launches itself at its prey.[11]