swine

[swahyn]

noun

plural

swine 

1. any stout, cloven-hoofed artiodactyl of the Old World family Suidae, having a thick hide sparsely covered with coarse hair, a disklike snout, and an often short, tasseled tail: now of worldwide distribution and hunted or raised for its meat and other products.

2. the domestic hog, Sus scrofa.

3. a coarse, gross, or brutishly sensual person.

4. a contemptible person.

swine

/ swaɪn /

noun

1. a coarse or contemptible person

2. another name for a pig

Other Word Forms

• swinelike adjective
• swinishness noun
• swinishly adverb
• swinish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of swine¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English swīn; cognate with German Schwein hog, Latin suīnus (adj.) porcine; akin to sow ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of swine¹

Old English swīn; related to Old Norse svīn, Gothic swein, Latin suīnus relating to swine

Idioms and Phrases

see cast pearls before swine.

Example Sentences

The same goes for pigs — a single case was found among five backyard pigs in October in a non-commercial operation where swine mixed with poultry and other livestock.

Read more on Salon

Human respiratory physiology is more like that of swines than felines.

Read more on Salon

When patients are positive on a general flu test — a common diagnostic that indicates human, swine, or bird flu — clinics should probe more deeply, Nuzzo said.

Read more on Salon

“African swine fever is spreading all over Europe,” said Michal Haring, a biologist from Slovakia, “and the wolf is a very good ‘doctor’ for this, suppressing the disease.

Read more on BBC

Oregon state and federal officials confirmed Wednesday that H5N1 bird flu was found in a pig living Crook County — the first such swine infection reported in the current outbreak.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blackguard 
• bounder 
• cad 
• cur 
• knave 
• rogue 
• rotter 
• scoundrel 
• varlet 
• worm 
• wretch