murine

[ myoor-ahyn, -in ]
See synonyms for murine on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. belonging or pertaining to the rodent subfamily Murinae, which includes more than 500 species of mice and rats: pathological studies of murine viruses;the detection of murine odor in the attic.

noun
  1. a murine rodent: No murines have played more vitally important roles in medical research than common house mice and brown rats.

Origin of murine

1
First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin mūrīnus “of mice,” equivalent to mūr- (stem of mūs “mouse”) + -īnus adjective suffix; see mouse, -ine1

Words Nearby murine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for murine

murine

/ (ˈmjʊəraɪn, -rɪn) /


adjective
  1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Muridae, an Old World family of rodents, typically having long hairless tails: includes rats and mice

  2. resembling a mouse or rat

noun
  1. any animal belonging to the Muridae

Origin of murine

1
C17: from Latin mūrīnus of mice, from mūs mouse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for murine

murine

[ myurīn′ ]


  1. Of or relating to a rodent of the subfamily Murinae, including rats and mice.

  2. Caused, transmitted, or affected by such a rodent.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.