How to Say "Lion" in Spanish - How To Say Guide

león

/leˈon/masculine

The English word "lion" is translated into Spanish as león.

The word león refers to the big cat Panthera leo.

Meaning: big cat Panthera leo (noun)

How does it change in a sentence?

The masculine form is león. To refer to a lioness, use the feminine form leona and the plural form for multiple lions is leones.

/leˈon/

In a metaphorical sense, a lion may be referred to as rey de la selva, which means "king of the jungle".

Spanish has a word for the 'lion's share' of something, la parte del león, which refers to taking the largest portion of a prize or resource.
The Spanish word león descends from the Latin leōnem, which in turn was borrowed from the Ancient Greek λέων.
The word león is a namesake for the city of León in Spain, which is depicted on the city's coat of arms as a red lion.

Este es un león.
This is a lion.
This sentence shows how to identify a león.
Tatoeba #1388912 by hayastan, translation #1388922 by CK
Tom mató un león.
Tom killed a lion.
This sentence demonstrates the use of león in the context of an action.
Tatoeba #10051381 by manufrutos, translation #10049909 by ddnktr
El león es fuerte.
A lion is strong.
This sentence describes a characteristic of a león.
Tatoeba #1392517 by marcelostockle, translation #1392505 by CM
El león es conocido como el rey de la selva.
The lion is known as the king of the jungle.
El pequeño leoncito es muy juguetón.
The little lion cub is very playful.
¡Mira ese león bermejo! Es imponente.
Look at that reddish-brown lion! It's impressive.
El león, rey de la sabana, descansa bajo el sol ardiente.
The lion, king of the savannah, rests under the scorching sun.
60 more sentences on Tatoeba

Javier and Sofía are looking at a picture book in a library.

Sources

Wiktionary, “lion” translations and entries león, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries león, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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