murine

[myoor-ahyn, -in]

adjective

1. belonging or pertaining to the rodent subfamily Murinae, which includes more than 500 species of mice and rats.

   pathological studies of murine viruses;

   the detection of murine odor in the attic.

noun

1. a murine rodent.

   No murines have played more vitally important roles in medical research than common house mice and brown rats.

murine

/ -rɪn, ˈmjʊəraɪn /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Muridae, an Old World family of rodents, typically having long hairless tails: includes rats and mice

2. resembling a mouse or rat

noun

1. any animal belonging to the Muridae

murine

1. Of or relating to a rodent of the subfamily Murinae, including rats and mice.

2. Caused, transmitted, or affected by such a rodent.

Word History and Origins

Origin of murine¹

First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin mūrīnus “of mice,” equivalent to mūr- (stem of mūs “mouse”) + -īnus adjective suffix; mouse, -ine ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of murine¹

C17: from Latin mūrīnus of mice, from mūs _mouse

Example Sentences

New Guinean woolly rats, related to the giant cloud rats of the Philippines, rank among the largest murine rodents on Earth.

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That doesn’t include the cost of the diseases the animals spread, such as hantavirus, murine typhus and bubonic plague, nor the mental health toll of living among them.

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They have two viruses in their sights: murine leukemia virus and Kaposi's sarcoma virus.

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They can also help spread murine typhus and food-borne germs like salmonella.

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HKU1 has the murkiest evolutionary history, but its genetic sequence clusters close to the murine hepatitis virus, suggesting it has a rodent origin.

Read more on Science Magazine