/serr"veuhl/ , n. , pl. servals , ( esp. collectively ) serval .
a long-limbed, nocturnal African cat, Felis serval, about the size of a bobcat, having a tawny coat spotted with black: now rare in many former habitats.
[ 1765-75; lobo ) cerval lynx, lit., staglike (wolf) cervalis deerlike, equiv. to L cerv ( us ) stag + -alis -AL 1 ]