ounce

noun

Etymology: From Middle French once, from Old French lonce (“lynx”), by false division (the l was thought to be the article), from Italian lonza, ultimately from Ancient Greek λύγξ (lúnx, “lynx”). Doublet of onza and lynx.

1. A large wild feline, such as a lynx or cougar.

   “The Ounce or the vvilde Cat, is as big as a mungrell dog, this creature is by nature feirce, and more dangerous to bee met vvithall than any other creature, not fearing eyther dogge or man; […]”

   “Halloa! another prey, The nimble Antelope! The ounce is freed; one spring, And his talons are sheath’d in her shoulders, And his teeth are red in her gore.”

2. Synonym of snow leopard, Panthera uncia.
3. Synonym of onza, a particularly aggressive cougar or jaguarundi in Mexican folklore.

   “The ounce, a leopard-like creature, is dreaded for its depredations by the Indians of Brazil.”