porcupine
English
/ˈpɔː(ɹ)kjʊˌpaɪn/
noun
Definitions
- Any of several rodents of either of the taxonomic families Hystricidae (Old World porcupines) or Erethizontidae (New World porcupines), both from the infraorder Hystricognathi, noted for their sharp spines or quills, which are raised when the animal is attacked or surprised.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English porke despyne derived from Old French porc-espin derived from Latin porcus (pig, domestic hog, pork, domesticated hog).
Origin
Latin
porcus
Gloss
pig, domestic hog, pork, domesticated hog
Concept
Semantic Field
Animals
Ontological Category
Classifier
Kanji
豚
Emoji
🐗 🐷 🐽
Timeline
Distribution of cognates by language
Geogrpahic distribution of cognates
Cognates and derived terms
- fish English
- porcupette English
- porcupinefish English
- wereporcupine English
- *porcopiscis Latin
- *porcospinus Latin
- cōrtis, cōrs, cors Latin
- porcaricia Latin
- porcarius Latin
- porcella Latin
- porcellus Latin
- porcile Latin
- porculus Latin
- porcus Latin
- porcāricia Latin
- porcārius Latin
- porcīle Latin
- porco Italian
- porcospino Italian
- stekel Dutch, Flemish
- stekelvarken Dutch, Flemish
- varken Dutch, Flemish
- porc-épic French
- puercoespín Spanish, Castilian
- πόρκος Ancient Greek
- *perḱ- Proto-Indo-European
- *porḱ- Proto-Indo-European
- *pórḱos Proto-Indo-European
- porke despyne Middle English
- purka Old Norse
- pind Danish
- pindsvin Danish
- svin Danish
- porc Old French
- porc-espin Old French
- porko Esperanto
- porc Romanian, Moldavian, Moldovan
- porko Ido
- porco Old Portuguese
- porcu Aromanian
- porkuspin Maltese
- *porkos Proto-Italic
- piertg Romansh
- portg Romansh
- püerch Romansh
- puercu Asturian
- porcarie Friulian
- purcit Friulian
- porc Old Occitan
- puerco Old Spanish
- pòrco Ligurian
- puarc Dalmatian
- porcu Corsican
- pôrz Emilian
- pōrc Emilian
- bogibain Kriol