por·cu·pine
(pôr′kyə-pīn′)n.
Any of various rodents of the family Hystricidae, of Eurasia and Africa, or the family Erethizontidae, of the Americas, having long, sharp, erectile quills.
[Middle English porke despine, from Old French porc espin, ultimately (perhaps via Old Italian porcospino) from Vulgar Latin *porcospīnus : Latin porcus, pig; see porko- in Indo-European roots + Latin spīna, thorn, spine (probably translation of Late Greek akanthokhoiros, hedgehog : Greek akantha, thorn + Greek khoiros, pig).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
porcupine
(ˈpɔːkjʊˌpaɪn)n
(Animals) any of various large hystricomorph rodents of the families Hystricidae, of Africa, Indonesia, S Europe, and S Asia, and Erethizontidae, of the New World. All species have a body covering of protective spines or quills
[C14 porc despyne pig with spines, from Old French porc espin; see pork, spine]
ˈporcuˌpinish adj
ˈporcuˌpiny adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
por•cu•pine
(ˈpɔr kyəˌpaɪn)n.
any large rodent of the New World family Erethizontidae or the Old World family Hystricidae, having stiff, sharp, erectile spines or quills.
[1375–1425; late Middle English porcupyne, porcapyne, Middle English porke despyne < Middle French porc d'espine literally, thorny pig. See pork, spine]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
| Noun | 1. |  porcupine - relatively large rodents with sharp erectile bristles mingled with the furquill - a stiff hollow protective spine on a porcupine or hedgehog gnawer, rodent - relatively small placental mammals having a single pair of constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawing Old World porcupine - terrestrial porcupine New World porcupine - arboreal porcupine |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
شَيْهَم، نيص
dikobraz
hulepindsvin
piikkisika
dikobraz
tarajos sül
broddgöltur
dygliakiaulė
dzeloņcūka
dikobraz
ježevec
dikobraz
piggsvin
oklu kirpi
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
porcupine
n → Stachelschwein nt
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
porcupine
(ˈpoːkjupain) noun a kind of gnawing animal covered with long prickles (called quills), and larger than a hedgehog.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.