Porcupine Definition
pôrkyə-pīn
porcupines
noun
porcupines
Any of a terrestrial Old World family (Hystricidae) or an arboreal New World family (Erethizontidae) of rodents, having coarse hair mixed with long, stiff, sharp spines that can be erected.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Other Word Forms of Porcupine
Noun
Singular:
porcupinePlural:
porcupinesOrigin of Porcupine
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Middle English porke despine from Old French porc espin ultimately (perhaps via Old Italian porcospino) from Vulgar Latin porcospīnus Latin porcus pig porko- in Indo-European roots Latin spīna thorn, spine (probably translation of Late Greek akanthokhoiros hedgehog) (Greek akantha thorn) (Greek khoiros pig)
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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From Latin porcus (“pig") + spinus (“spine"), hence also spine pig. Cognate with Spanish puercoespín.
From Wiktionary
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