ursine

See also: Ursine

English

WOTD – 22 December 2007

Etymology

Mid 16th century, from Latin ursīnus, adjectival form of ursus (“bear”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɜː.saɪn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɝsaɪn/, /ˈɝsɪn/

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Adjective

ursine (comparative more ursine, superlative most ursine)

1. 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^[1], 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^[2], 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, [3]

     […] we noted that a preponderance of the evidence supports an ursine origin for the giant panda.

2. 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, [4]
3. (entomology, of caterpillars) Covered in stiff bristles.

Synonyms

• bearlike
• bearly

Derived terms

Derived terms

• brankursine
• ursine baboon
• ursine dasyure
• ursine howler
• ursine seal
• subursine

Translations

of or relating to bears

• Arabic: دُبِّيّ (ar) (dubbiyy)
• Belarusian: мядзве́джы (mjadzvjédžy)
• Bulgarian: ме́чешки (bg) (méčeški)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熊的 (zh) (xióng de)

• Czech: medvědí (cs)
• Dutch: beer- (nl)
• Esperanto: ursa (eo)
• Finnish: karhu-
• French: ursin (fr)
• German: Bären- (de)
• Greek: αρκουδιάρικος (arkoudiárikos)
• Ido: ursala
• Italian: orsino
• Japanese: クマの (ja) (kuma no)
• Korean: 곰의 (ko) (gom-ui)
• Latin: ursīnus
• Macedonian: мечкин (mečkin)
• Old English: biren
• Polish: niedźwiedzi (pl)
• Russian: медве́жий (ru) (medvéžij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мѐдвеђӣ, мѐдвјеђӣ

  Roman: mèdveđī, mèdvjeđī (sh)

• Slovak: medvedí
• Slovene: medvedji
• Spanish: osuno (es)
• Ukrainian: ведме́жий (vedméžyj), ведме́дячий (uk) (vedmédjačyj)
• Volapük: berik (vo)

Noun

ursine (plural ursines)

1. (zoology) A bear.

Anagrams

• insure, inures, nursie, rusine, urines

Latin

Adjective

ursīne

1. vocative masculine singular of ursīnus