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anserine
If you’re familiar with the old-fashioned term silly goose, then you’ll understand this term, which applies equally to geese and silliness. By the way, the synonym goosish has been around longer than you’d think: it’s been recorded since the 1300s. This is a word that deserves a comeback, given all the anserine behavior in the world.
A gentleman known as Usher the Clown took to the water in "a machine like a washing tub, drawn by four geese". The industrious showman piloted his anserine chariot from Southwark Bridge to Vauxhall.
– The Londonist
aquiline
Around since the mid-1600s, this term has two related meanings. It means all things eagle-y — though we apologize to the eagle for using such an offhand, unmajestic word of my own for this imposing bird. Aquiline can also apply to the distinctive hook or curve of an eagle’s beak. This term is often used for human noses that have a prominent curve, but remember what your mother said about commenting on someone else’s appearance, OK?
Conan Doyle even appropriated some of Bell’s physical attributes for Holmes, giving him the professor’s “sharp and piercing” gray eyes and thin, aquiline nose.
– The Washington Post
asinine
This word for foolish behavior is one of the most transparent animal words, since it derives from asses: in other words, donkeys, who have never been applauded for their sophisticated behavior.
But he said it was “ asinine to say that players making only a few million a year are underpaid,” as fans and reporters often say when comparing players’ salaries.
– The New York Times
bovine
This adjective referring to cows is an insult when applied to people.
A patrol officer pulled alongside the brown-and-white bovine Friday and the animal rammed the car, leaving a large dent.
– The Washington Times
canine
Sometimes this word is used for doglike behavior in non-dogs, such as a steadfast person’s canine loyalty. A fun and obscure term is canine letter, also known as the dog’s letter, which is R, because dogs tend to go arrrrrrr or grrrrrrr when they’re in a huff.
She was sandwiched between two canines, Lady Bird, who is large and baleful looking, and Gizmo, a twitchy Chihuahua-terrier mix who belongs to her son, Sam.
– The New York Times
caprine
Instead of cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys, EU documents speak of “bovine, ovine, caprine and asinine animals.”
– The Wall Street Journal
cervine
Moose, as well as other members of the cervine family, live mostly on the shoots of trees, but they die mostly by the shoots of hunters.
– Various
corvine
These very long sticks were so slender and dry that the bird was able to lift and to fly with them; therefore, to his corvine mind, they were suitable for his purpose.
– W. H. Hudson
elephantine
Their hard shells allow the tortoises to crawl deep into thorny thickets, and they navigate loose lava rocks with their elephantine feet.
– National Geographic
equine
The fire at Olsen’s livery stables the following week was extinguished without any injury or loss of life, human or equine.
– American Gods
feline
We don’t want cat lovers to be excluded, so here’s the cat equivalent. Feline can refer specifically to cats or to the broader cat family, which includes panthers, tigers, and lions, oh my. You can use feline to describe cat-like behavior, appearance, websites, paw prints, or anything else that’s catty.
One fearless feline is giving a whole new meaning to the term “catwalk” after an impromptu runway debut at a fashion show in Turkey.
– Fox News
hircine
Soon Parris and his television station, KTVB, solved the great hircine mystery, reporting that the goats were rogue lawn mowers.
– Colorado Public Radio
leonine
But other imitations retained a sense of mystery, like Mr. Grimes’s uncannily leonine gait in “King Lion.”
– The New York Times
limacine
Tempos were surprisingly Victorian; “He Shall Feed His Flock” and “He Was Despised” were positively limacine, and the final section of “Worthy Is the Lamb” lacked momentum.
– The Washington Post
lupine
Dogs are closely related to wolves. Genetically, they’re very similar, though the domesticated dog and wild wolf couldn’t be more different in terms of which you’d rather have as a babysitter. But wolves aren’t canine: they’re lupine.
There’s The New Mutants, a horror-tinged spin on the Marvel franchise, in which she plays Wolfsbane, a young girl with lupine powers.
– The Guardian
murine
Half of the test mice were four weeks old, which, in murine terms, qualifies them as adolescents.
– NewYorker.com
oscine
It was something after the order of the purple martin's melodious sputter, only the tones were richer and fuller and the music better defined, as became a genuine oscine.
– Keyser, Leander S. (Leander Sylvester)
ovine
Only three sheep are among resident farm animals that roam the park’s pastures and barnyard only a few minutes away from downtown Bellevue, so they’ll be joined by 20 ovine friends visiting for spring shearing.
– The Seattle Times
peregrine
The once-endangered peregrine falcons raise their young on cliffs, and the species was restored in Vermont with help from wildlife agencies and private groups.
– The Washington Times
piscine
Around since the 1600s, piscine has been used in all sorts of fish-related contexts. In the 1816 book The Origin of Pagan Idolatry by George Stanley Faber, the term describes a deity of the sea: “Derceto was the piscine ship-goddess of the Syrians.” In an 1854 edition of reference book Orr’s Circles of the Sciences, the term applies to a skeletal pattern, specifically, “The piscine modification of the vertebrate skeleton.” Our favorite piscine thing is sushi. Mmm, sushi.
There are several reputable lodges that offer anglers access to the Kanektok’s piscine riches.
– The Washington Post
porcine
This word is a few letters removed from porcupine, but that’s just a coincidence. If you notice the similarity of porcine and pork, it’ll help you remember the meaning of this term, which describes pigs, who are also called hogs and swine, which are fightin’ words if you apply them to people. Come to think of it, so is pig.
Speculation about a change grew this month after a government-issued postage stamp for the Year of the Pig in 2019 showed a porcine family complete with three piglets.
– The Guardian
serpentine
This term, loosely speaking, means snake-y, in all senses. A long, winding staircase could be called serpentine. A more diabolical sense is defined dramatically by the OED: “Having the evil qualities of the serpent; pertaining to the Serpent as the tempter of mankind; diabolical, Satanic; devilishly wily or cunning.” Then there’s serpentine verse: a line of poetry beginning and ending with the same word, which sort of resembles a snake eating its own tail.
The women of the Moxi skate team whiz through the streets of Long Beach on their roller skates, first gliding in serpentine patterns, then performing back flips, midair splits and handstands off skateboard ramps.
– Los Angeles Times
taurine
The 38-year-old Padilla, the star attraction at the southwestern town of Olivenza's annual taurine festival, said he was returning to the ring because of a need "to win, to triumph, to be a better man.
– Houston Chronicle
ursine
This word describes one of the most impressive animals of all: the bear.
Camping is something I’d never do, especially not in western North Carolina, which is an ursine Club Med.
– The Wall Street Journal
vulpine
His voice could convey flirtatiousness, amusement, heartache or wily agility, and his syncopated phrasing was as close to jazz as to traditional blues, leaping easily into falsetto or letting loose a vulpine howl.
– The New York Times
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