hirundine

[hi-ruhn-din, -dahyn]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling the swallow.

hirundine

/ hɪˈrʌndɪn, -daɪn /

adjective

1. of or resembling a swallow

2. belonging to the bird family Hirundinidae, which includes swallows and martins

Word History and Origins

Origin of hirundine¹

1825–35; < Late Latin hirundineus of a swallow, equivalent to hirundin- (stem of hirundō ) swallow + -eus adj. suffix; -eous

Word History and Origins

Origin of hirundine¹

C19: from Late Latin hirundineus, from Latin hirundō a swallow

Example Sentences

Hirundine, hi-run′din, adj. of or pertaining to the swallow.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Were the stragglers which I had for some time been watching, flying high, but well within easy ken, and these dense, hardly discernible clusters—hirundine nebulæ, as it were—were all these but parts of one innumerable host, the main body of which was passing far above me altogether unseen?

Read more on Project Gutenberg