argentine

¹ American  

[ahr-juhn-tin, -tahyn] / ˈɑr dʒən tɪn, -ˌtaɪn /

adjective

1. pertaining to or resembling silver.

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noun

1. a silvery substance, especially one obtained from fish scales, used in making imitation pearls.

argentine ² American  

[ahr-juhn-tin, -tahyn] / ˈɑr dʒən tɪn, -ˌtaɪn /

noun

1. any of various silvery marine fishes, especially those of the genus Argentina.

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Argentine ³ American  

[ahr-juhn-teen, -tahyn] / ˈɑr dʒənˌtin, -ˌtaɪn /

Also Argentinean

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Argentina.

2. Usually the Argentine Argentina.

   They vacationed in the Argentine.

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adjective

1. of or relating to Argentina.

Argentine ¹ British  

/ -ˌtaɪn, ˈɑːdʒənˌtiːn /

noun

1. another name for Argentina

2. a native or inhabitant of Argentina

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adjective

1. of or relating to Argentina

argentine ² British  

/ ˈɑːdʒənˌtaɪn /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling silver

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noun

1. any of various small marine salmonoid fishes, such as Argentina sphyraena, that constitute the family Argentinidae and are characterized by a long silvery body

Other Word Forms

• pseudo-Argentinean adjective

Etymology

Origin of argentine¹

1400–50; late Middle English (< Anglo-French ) < Latin argentīnus silvery. See argent, -ine ¹

Origin of argentine²

1530–40; < New Latin Argentina genus name, Latin, feminine of argentīnus silvery. See argentine ¹

Origin of Argentine³

First recorded in 1825–30, and in 1890–95 Argentine for def. 2; see origin at Argentina ( def. )

Example Sentences

The ear of mortal never heard such a delirious, delicious, such a crystalline, argentine, ivory-smooth, velvety-soft, such a ravishing, such an enravished tumult of sweet voices.

From The Lady Paramount by Harland, Henry

By continuance of heat it calcines in white fumes, called argentine flowers of antimony, which melt into a hyacinthine glass.

From Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry by Priestley, Joseph

The vibrant note of violin Is the child voice that struck my heart, Exquisite, plaintive, argentine, With all the anguish of its dart.

From Enamels and Cameos and other Poems by Lee, Agnes

Becalmed, the island lay steeped in floods of ethereal silver, its sky an iridescent dome, its sea a shimmering shield of opalescence, its lawns and terraces argentine shadowed with deepest violet.

From Nobody by Jacobs, W. L.

And this notwithstanding the greyness of his beard, which indeed is, in my own mind, very becoming to him, the argentine touch giving a character of elevation and thought to the whole physiognomy.

From The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume II by Kenyon, Frederic G. (Frederic George), Sir