canine
[key-nahyn]
- of or like a dog; relating to or characteristic of dogs: canine loyalty.
- Anatomy, Zoology. of or relating to the four pointed teeth, especially prominent in dogs, situated one on each side of each jaw, next to the incisors.
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- a canid, or member of the dog family Canidae.
- a dog.
- a canine tooth; cuspid.
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Origin of canine
1350–1400; Middle English canine canine tooth (< Middle French) < Latin canīnus, equivalent to can(is) dog + -īnus -ine1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for canine
Contemporary Examples
Me & Dog is off to a promising start and Mary Magdalene has some canine companionship.
Catcoin And so explains the birth of Catcoin, the latest creation hell-bent on knocking its canine counterpart off its perch.
Professional shows weren't his thing, but this canine will wear just about anything and pose for the camera.
Right after all the parades for record-setting grain harvests and successful launches of canine cosmonauts.
The arresting officer follows a hunch and calls in a canine search unit that happens to be in the area.
Historical Examples
The canine party he meets in Battle Row misonderstands a sityooation.'
Faro Nell and Her FriendsAlfred Henry Lewis
While I did so, Neche mouched about among them with canine inquisitiveness.
The Hound From The NorthRidgwell Cullum
No other degree of canine consanguinity is considered so degrading.
An Old Sailor's YarnsNathaniel Ames
Fortunately he awoke in time to save its becoming the prey of its canine visitor.
Paul Prescott's ChargeHoratio Alger
The truth is that man was necessary to the establishment of canine society.
canine
- of or resembling a dog; doglike
- of, relating to, or belonging to the Canidae, a family of mammals, including dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes, typically having a bushy tail, erect ears, and a long muzzle: order Carnivora (carnivores)
- of or relating to any of the four teeth, two in each jaw, situated between the incisors and the premolars
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- any animal of the family Canidae
- a canine tooth
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin canīnus, from canis dog
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for canine
n.
"pointed tooth," late 14c., from Latin caninus "of the dog," genitive of canis "dog" (source of Italian cane, French chien), from PIE root *kwon- "dog" (cf. Greek kyon, Old English hund, Old High German hunt, Old Irish cu, Welsh ci, Sanskrit svan-, Avestan spa, Russian sobaka (apparently from an Iranian source, e.g. Median spaka), Armenian shun, Lithuanian šuo). The noun meaning "dog" is first recorded 1869.
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adj.
c.1600, of teeth, from canine (n.) or Latin caninus. Meaning "pertaining to a dog or dogs" is from 1620s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
canine
(kā′nīn)- Of, relating to, or characteristic of members of the family Canidae.
- Of, relating to, or being one of the pointed conical teeth located between the incisors and the first bicuspids.
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- An animal of the family Canidae, especially a dog.
- A canine tooth.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
canine
[kā′nīn]
- Characteristic of or resembling dogs, wolves, or related animals.
- Relating to any of the four pointed teeth located behind the incisors in most mammals. In carnivores, the canine teeth are adapted for cutting and tearing meat.
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- A canine tooth.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.