ursine

Mid 16th century, from Latin ursinus, adjectival form of ursus (“bear”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɜː.saɪn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɝːsaɪn/, /ˈɝːsɪn/

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ursine (comparative more ursine, superlative most ursine)

1. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of bears.
   • 1832, Godfrey Mundy, Pen and Pencil Sketches, Being the Journal of a Tour in India, London: John Murray, Vol. 1, Chapter VI, p. 320,

     The British chief having undergone the ursine embrace of the Seikh monarch, the whole cavalcade proceeded towards the town.

   • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 8,

     […] the old man's eccentricities, sometimes bordering on the ursine, repelled the juniors […]

   • 2004, in Donald G. Lindburg and Karen Baragona (eds.), Giant Pandas: Biology and Conservation, Berkeley: University of California Press, Part Two, Introduction, p. 77,

     […] we noted that a preponderance of the evidence supports an ursine origin for the giant panda.

2. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the bear subfamily Ursinae.
   • 2004, in Donald G. Lindburg and Karen Baragona (eds.), Giant Pandas: Biology and Conservation, Berkeley: University of California Press, Part Two, Introduction, p. 37,
3. (entomology, of caterpillars) Covered in stiff bristles.

• bearly

ursine (plural ursines)

1. (zoology) A bear.

• insure, inures, nursie, rusine, urines

ursine (plural ursines)

1. sea urchin
2. Any member of Ursinae, a subfamily of Ursidae.

ursīne

1. vocative masculine singular of ursīnus