serval

See also: Serval and seřval

English

A serval at a zoo in Queensland, Australia

Etymology

From French serval, from Portuguese (lobo) cerval (“Iberian lynx”), from Latin lupus cervārius (literally “stag wolf”), i.e. "wolf that hunts stags", from cervus (“deer, stag”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɜːvəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: sûrʹvəl, IPA^(key): /ˈsɝvəl/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)vəl

Noun

serval (plural servals)

1. A medium-sized African wild cat, Leptailurus serval, formerly Felis serval.

Derived terms

• caraval
• servaline
• servical

Translations

medium-sized African wild cat

• Afrikaans: tierboskat (af)
• Amharic: አነር m (ʾänär)
• Arabic: بَج (ar) (baj)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 藪貓 / 薮猫 (sau² maau¹)

  Mandarin: 藪貓 / 薮猫 (zh) (sǒumāo)

• Czech: serval (cs) m
• Dagbani: sulipiɛlli
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dinka:

  Southwestern Dinka: dhok

• Dutch: serval (nl) m, woestijnlynx m
• Dyula: jakumawara
• Esperanto: servalo
• Farefare: saasaa
• Finnish: servaali (fi)
• French: serval (fr) m
• Galician: serval (gl) m
• Georgian: სერვალი (servali)
• German: Serval m
• Hungarian: szervál (hu)
• Icelandic: gresjuköttur m
• Ido: servalo (io)
• Irish: seirbheal m
• Italian: gattopardo (it) m, servalo (it)
• Japanese: サーバル (ja) (sābaru)
• Karang: ɗakli
• Kasem: ŋwarɩm
• Kikuyu: kĩrũũmi class 7
• Korean: 서벌 (ko) (seobeol)
• Maasai: eseperua f
• Malay: serval
• Moore: sulfu
• Musgu: ámíl
• Nawdm: yuŋgwɛɛga
• Pévé: merian
• Polish: serwal (pl) m anim
• Portuguese: serval (pt) m
• Romanian: serval m
• Russian: серва́л (ru) m (servál)
• Serbo-Croatian: sèrvāl (sh) m
• Soninke: wanjalanŋe
• Spanish: serval (es) m
• Swahili: mondo (sw), mondo (sw) class 9/10
• Swazi: indloti
• Swedish: serval (sv) c
• Telugu: జంగుపిల్లి (te) (jaṅgupilli)
• Turkish: serval
• Zulu: indlozi (zu) class 9/10

Anagrams

• Lavers, arvels, larves, lavers, ravels, revals, salver, slaver, velars, versal

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛrval]

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

Noun

serval m anim (relational adjective servalí)

1. serval (Leptailurus serval)

Declension

Declension of serval (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	serval	servalové
genitive	servala	servalů
dative	servalovi, servalu	servalům
accusative	servala	servaly
vocative	servale	servalové
locative	servalovi, servalu	servalech
instrumental	servalem	servaly

Derived terms

• servalí

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

serval

1. masculine singular past active participle of servat

Further reading

• “serval”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “serval”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “serval”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Dutch

Leptailurus serval

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin serval.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛr.vɑl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ser‧val

Noun

serval m (plural servals, no diminutive)

1. serval (Leptailurus serval)

   Synonym: woestijnlynx

Derived terms

• servalkat

Further reading

• “serval” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]
• serval on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese (lobo) cerval (“Iberian lynx”), from Latin lupus cervārius (literally “stag wolf”), i.e. "wolf that hunts stags", from cervus (“deer, stag”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛʁ.val/

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

serval m (plural servaux)

1. serval

Descendants

• → English: serval
• → German: Serval
• → Portuguese: serval
• Translingual: Felis serval

Further reading

• “serval”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Portuguese

serval

Etymology

Borrowed from French serval, from Portuguese [gato-]cerval (“Iberian lynx”). See more on the doublet of cerval.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /seʁˈvaw/ [seɦˈvaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /seʁˈvaw/ [seɦˈvaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /seɾˈvaw/ [seɾˈvaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /seʁˈvaw/ [seʁˈvaʊ̯]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /seɻˈvaw/ [seɻˈvaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈval/ [sɨɾˈvaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈval/ [sɨɾˈvaɫ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈbal/ [sɨɾˈβaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈva.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Homophone: cerval
• Hyphenation: ser‧val

Noun

serval m (plural servais)

1. serval (Leptailurus serval)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French serval.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /serˈval/

Noun

serval m (plural servali)

1. serval

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	serval	servalul	servali	servalii
genitive-dative	serval	servalului	servali	servalilor
vocative	servalule		servalilor

Further reading

• “serval”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French serval, from Portuguese (lobo) cerval (“Iberian lynx”), from Latin lupus cervārius (literally “stag wolf”), i.e. "wolf that hunts stags", from cervus (“deer, stag”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seɾˈbal/ [seɾˈβ̞al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ser‧val

Noun

serval m (plural servales)

1. serval

Related terms

• ciervo

Further reading

• “serval”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025