canine

English

WOTD – 3 November 2013

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin canīnus (“of dogs, dog-like”), from canis (“dog”). Compare French canin. Doublet of hound.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kāʹnīn, kaʹnīn, (rare) kə-nīnʹ, IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪnaɪn/, /ˈkænaɪn/, (rare) /kəˈnaɪn/
• enPR: kāʹnīn', (rare) kə-nīnʹ, IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪˌnaɪn/, (rare) /kəˈnaɪn/

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪnaɪn, -ænaɪn, -aɪn
• Homophone: K9
• Hyphenation: ca‧nine

Adjective

canine (not comparable)

1. Of, or pertaining to, a dog or dogs.
   • 1913, Sax Rohmer, The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, ch. 8,

     We carried the dog round to the yard, and I examined his head. . . . I accepted the care of the canine patient.

   • 2005, Gareth Roberts, Only Human, page 17

     A lost dog sniffed around the flower beds wishing it had some canine company […]

2. Dog-like.
   • 1891, Arthur Quiller-Couch, "The Affair of Bleakirk-on-Sands," Noughts & Crosses,

     In many respects she made me an admirable wife. Her affection for me was canine—positively.

3. (anatomy) Of or pertaining to mammalian teeth which are cuspids or fangs.
   • 1872, Charles Darwin, Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals, ch. 10,

     Then his upper lip may be seen to be raised, especially at the corners, so that his huge canine teeth are exhibited.

4. (medicine, obsolete) Of an appetite: depraved or inordinate; used to describe eating disorders.

Synonyms

• (of dogs): dogly, houndly
• (dog-like): dogly, doglike, houndly

Translations

pertaining to dogs

• Arabic: نَاب (ar) m (nāb)
• Armenian: շնային (hy) (šnayin), շան (hy) (šan)
• Bulgarian: кучешки (bg) (kučeški)
• Catalan: caní (ca)
• Dutch: honds (nl)
• Faroese: hunda- (fo)
• Finnish: koira- (fi)
• Greek: κυνικός (el) m (kynikós), σκυλίσιος (el) m (skylísios), σκυλο- (skylo-)

  Ancient: κύνειος (kúneios)

• Hindi: श्वानीय m (śvānīya)
• Italian: canino (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: canīnus (la)
• Macedonian: кучешки (kučeški)
• Malay: kanin, anjing (ms)
• Polish: psi (pl) m
• Portuguese: canino (pt) m
• Russian: соба́чий (ru) (sobáčij), пси́ный (ru) (psínyj)
• Slovak: psí
• Slovene: pes (sl)
• Spanish: canino (es)
• Volapük: dogik (vo)
• Yiddish: הינטיש (hintish)

dog-like

• Dutch: hondachtig (nl)
• Finnish: koiramainen (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: κυνικός (el) m (kynikós), σκυλίσιος (el) m (skylísios)
• Italian: canino (it) m, cagnesco (it) m
• Slovak: psí
• Spanish: perruno (es) m, canino (es) m

Noun

canine (plural canines)

1. Any member of Caninae, the only living subfamily of Canidae.
2. (formal) Any of certain extant canids regarded as similar to the dog or wolf (including coyotes, jackals, etc.) but distinguished from the vulpines, which are regarded as fox-like.
   • 2010, M. S. Mititch, The Spychip Conspiracy, page 189

     The canine ran across the room to the open window, put his front paws on the sill and pointed his nose at the sidewalk below.

3. In heterodont mammals, the pointy tooth between the incisors and the premolars; a cuspid.
   • 2006, Amy Sutherland, Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World's Premier School for Animal Trainers

     He tried to push Kissu into his cage, but the cougar charged back out and sank his canines into Wilson's rump.

4. (poker slang) A king and a nine as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em due to phonetic similarity.
   • 2005, Dennis Purdy, The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em, page 270

     You have been dealt King-9 unsuited ("canine") in your pocket.

Synonyms

• (dog or wolf): dog
• (pointy tooth): cuspid

Derived terms

• caninoid

Translations

dog or wolf

• Finnish: koiraeläin (fi)
• Latin: canis (la)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malay: kanin

pointy tooth — see canine tooth

See also

• lupine
• vulpine
• Canini (tribe within subfamily Caninae)
• cain

References

• Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN

Anagrams

• neanic

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.nin/

Adjective

canine

1. feminine singular of canin.

Noun

canine f (plural canines)

1. canine, cuspid.

Further reading

• “canine”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• ancien

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Italian

Adjective

canine

1. feminine plural of canino

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Latin

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) canīne

1. vocative masculine singular of canīnus