panthan

panthan (plural panthans)

1. (science fiction) A Martian mercenary.
   • 1900, Archibald Clavering Gunter, Tangled Flags: A Novel, page 223:

     Three Sikhs with three mules attempt to take it to them down the causeway scourged by the Chinese fire. First a mule drops, but the tall, gaunt-featured, turbaned panthans stride on. Then a turban goes down; then another turban; and the third ...

   • 1941, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Llana of Gathol and John Carter of Mars:

     I asked each man his name and his past experience; there were, among the twenty-three, eleven panthans and twelve assassins; and they had fought all over the world. Seven of the panthans were from Helium, ...

2. Alternative form of panth (“Indian religious tradition”).