Page 538 - Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary

SESSION 41

ORIGINS AND RELATED WORDS

1. people are the craziest animals

Bovine, placid like a cow, stolid, patient, unexcitable, is built on the Latin word for ox or
cow, bovis, plus the su x -ine, like, similar to, or characteristic of. To call someone bovine is
of course far from complimentary, for this adjective is considerably stronger than
phlegmatic, and implies a certain mild contempt on the part of the speaker. A bovine person
is somewhat like a vegetable: eats and grows and lives, but apparently is lacking in any

strong feelings.
Humans are sometimes compared to animals, as in the following adjectives:
1. leonine (LEE′-Ə-nīn′)—like a lion in appearance or temperament.
2. canine (KAY′-nīn′)—like a dog. As a noun, the word refers to the species to which dogs
belong. Our canine teeth are similar to those of a dog.

3 . feline (FEE′-līn′)—catlike. We may speak of feline grace; or (insultingly) of feline
temperament when we mean that a person is “catty.”
4. porcine (PAWR′-sīn′)—piglike.
5. vulpine (VUL′-pīn′)—foxlike in appearance or temperament. When applied to people,
this adjective usually indicates the shrewdness of a fox.
6. ursine (UR′-sīn′)—bearlike.
7. lupine (L ′-pīn)—wolflike.

8. equine (EE′-kwīn′)—horselike; “horsy.”
9. piscine (PIS′-īn′)—fishlike.

All these adjectives come from the corresponding Latin words for the animals; and, of
course, each adjective also describes, or refers to, the speci c animal as well as to the
person likened to the animal.

1. leo lion

2. canis dog

3. felis cat

4. porcus pig

5. vulpus fox

6. ursus bear

7. lupus wolf

8. equus horse