porcupine

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈpɔrkjəˌpaɪn/ UK /ˈpɔːkjʊˌpaɪn/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a large rodent covered with protective quills or spines

The dog learned its lesson after tangling with a porcupine.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms Porcupines

Related forms porcine spine

Etymology

From Middle French porc espin ('spiny pig'), from Latin porcus ('pig') + spina ('thorn, spine'). Literally 'thorn-pig'.

porc espin Old French porcus Latin spina Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# porcupine

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈpɔrkjəˌpaɪn
**IPA (UK):** ˈpɔːkjʊˌpaɪn

## Meanings
1. a large rodent covered with protective quills or spines

## Examples
- The dog learned its lesson after tangling with a porcupine.

## Related Forms
- porcine
- spine

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: porc espin
- Root: porcus
- Root: spina

## Etymology
From Middle French porc espin ('spiny pig'), from Latin porcus ('pig') + spina ('thorn, spine'). Literally 'thorn-pig'.

## AI Etymology
Porcupine is from Middle French porc espin ('spiny pig'), from Latin porcus ('pig') + spina ('thorn, spine'). Literally 'thorn-pig'. Important recorded forms include porc espin (Old French), porcus (Latin), and spina (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers a large rodent covered with protective quills or spines. The wider family includes related words such as porcine and spine.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown

porcupine

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback