leporine
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of leporine
First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin leporīnus, equivalent to lepor- (stem of lepus “hare”) + -īnus -ine 1
Explanation
When something reminds you of a rabbit, you can describe it as leporine. Your cocker spaniel puppy looks especially leporine when she lies on her back with her long ears stretched out on the floor behind her. The adjective leporine is used for anything having to do with rabbits or hares. "Let me introduce you to my leporine pets," you might say before showing a new friend your three pet bunnies. It's also a good descriptor for animals that resemble rabbits, like pikas, viscachas, or Patagonian maras, all of which are small leporine rodents with ears that stand straight up. Leporine is a Latin loanword, from the root lepus, or "hare."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I make cameos in my films as dying animals," reveals the 41-year-old, who follows up his chilling leporine screech with the agonised low moan he gave an expiring deer in his previous directorial effort.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2019
A prominent set of front teeth and a prodigious appetite for carrots inspired Shaw’s brother, Kentardo, to coin her leporine nickname, which she loathed at first until she “grew into it”.
From The Guardian • Dec. 28, 2018
This may be partially because of a decline in the local rabbit population due to rabbit calicivirus, a widespread leporine hemorrhagic disease.
From National Geographic • Dec. 18, 2017
The secondary characters are somewhat disquieting: whose uncle, exactly, is Uncle Yawn, given that he’s human, not leporine?
From The New Yorker • Oct. 9, 2015
Ursine arm; feline paw; profoundly cross-hinged, yet grinding jaw, and purely triturative and almost ruminant molar of Ailurus; tongue smooth; pupil round; feet enveloped in woolly socks with leporine completeness.
From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Sterndale, Robert Armitage
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
