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ursine. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ursine, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ursine in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ursine you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
Mid 16th century, from Latin ursīnus, adjectival form of ursus (“bear”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
ursine (comparative more ursine, superlative most ursine)
- Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of bears.
1832, Godfrey Mundy, chapter VI, in Pen and Pencil Sketches, Being the Journal of a Tour in India, volume 1, London: John Murray, page 320:The British chief having undergone the ursine embrace of the Seikh monarch, the whole cavalcade proceeded towards the town.
1924, Herman Melville, chapter 8, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.:[…] the old man's eccentricities, sometimes bordering on the ursine, repelled the juniors […]
- 2004, in Donald G. Lindburg and Karen Baragona (eds.), Giant Pandas: Biology and Conservation, Berkeley: University of California Press, Part Two, Introduction, p. 77,
- we noted that a preponderance of the evidence supports an ursine origin for the giant panda.
- Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the bear subfamily Ursinae.
- 2004, in Donald G. Lindburg and Karen Baragona (eds.), Giant Pandas: Biology and Conservation, Berkeley: University of California Press, Part Two, Introduction, p. 37,
- (entomology, of caterpillars) Covered in stiff bristles.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
ursine (plural ursines)
- (zoology) A bear.
Anagrams
Latin
Adjective
ursīne
- vocative masculine singular of ursīnus