Ferine
/ˈfɪəɹaɪn/ adj, noun
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A member of the proposed taxon of bats, carnivorans, and insectivorans. obsolete
Adjective
- 1 Pertaining to wild, menacing animals; feral. archaic
"the season of rutting (an uncouth phrase, by which the vulgar denote that gentle dalliance, which in the well-wooded forest of Hampshire, passes between lovers of the ferine kind) […]"
- 2 Belonging to the proposed taxon of bats, carnivorans, and insectivorans. obsolete
Adjective
- 1 wild and menacing wordnet
Example
More examples"the season of rutting (an uncouth phrase, by which the vulgar denote that gentle dalliance, which in the well-wooded forest of Hampshire, passes between lovers of the ferine kind) […]"
Etymology
From Latin ferīnus, from fera (“wild animal”). The zoological sense was coined by William Whewell in 1840.