Etymology: Partly (in sense 1) < Pahari tahr tahr n. or a cognate with the same sense (see note), and partly (in sense 2) < Nepali thār serow, probably a loanword < an unidentified language. Compare scientific Latin thar , specific name of a form of serow (B. H. Hodgson 1831, in Gleanings in Sci. 3 324). Compare slightly later tahr n.In sense 1 apparently confused with tahr n. and its etymon at an early date. This may be partly due to the lack of distinction between aspirated and unaspirated plosives in English, leading to uncertainty about the spelling of transliterated words. However, compare also Panjabi thār (and similar forms in some other languages), apparently denoting Hemitragus jemlahicus (apparently < the etymon of the Pahari word). Compare:1845 Calcutta Rev. 4 171 As an instance of confusion arising from native names of animals, we content ourselves with the following: The ‘Surrow’ of the Western Hills and the ‘Thar’ of Nepal and of the hills even far less easterly, is one and the same deer, the ‘Antelope Ther’ of zoology. But in the Western Hills the wild goat, (a regular capra) is indiscriminately called Ther and Thar. Hence if an Eastern gentleman talk of Thars, the Western gentleman goes out to shoot goats, much to the astonishment of his friend, and vice versa.