ferine

[feer-ahyn, -in]

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adjective

Origin of ferine

1530–40; < Latin ferīnus, equivalent to fer(a) a wild animal (noun use of feminine of ferus wild) + -īnus -ine¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ferine

unrelenting, barbarous, murderous, ruthless, atrocious, inhuman, brutal, bloody, fierce, violent, cold-blooded, sadistic, ferocious, destructive, relentless, merciless, harsh, inhumane, savage, rude

Examples from the Web for ferine

Historical Examples of ferine

They are now begun by first throwing a mob into a panic; they are ended only when it has spent its ferine fury.
In Defense of Women
H. L. Mencken
He crouched like a beast, ferine—all the obscure and diabolic passion of him ready to spring.
Where the Pavement Ends
John Russell
The only ferine companions we now had were a few hardy quadrupeds and birds, capable of enduring the winter.
Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea
John Franklin

British Dictionary definitions for ferine

ferine

adjective

another word for feral 1, feral 1

Word Origin for ferine

C17: from Latin ferīnus, of wild animals, from fera wild beast

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

Word Origin and History for ferine

adj.

1630s, from Latin ferinus "pertaining to wild animals," from fera "wild beast" (see fierce).