ラテン語のlynxが語源で、語源的には光、月と同じ。 暗いところで光るネコの目から名付けられた。
If that men hadden eyghen of a beeste that highte lynx, so that the lokynge of folk myghte percen thurw the thynges that withstonden it. [Chaucer's "Boethius," c. 1380]Compare Lithuanian luzzis, Old High German luhs, German luchs, Old English lox, Dutch los, Swedish lo "lynx."