I love learning new stuff!
Without looking it up, can you answer the following two questions:
1. If cats, dogs, and cows are 'feline', 'canine' and 'bovine', what is the '-ine' word for sheep? Bonus points if you know the one for goats, too.
2. What part of speech is an animal '-ine' word?
Answers will be posted at 9pm tonight. Give or take an hour or two. :)
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1. The '-ine' descriptive word for sheep is.... Ovine! And for goats, caprine, which is also the source of the word 'capricious'.
2. The '-ine' words are adjectives, describing the characteristics of these animals, or those acting like them. "She danced with feline grace." "His behavior for the meeting was simply asinine."
Thanks for playing along! Happy weekend-ing to you all!
equine comes to my mind, but I think thats horses.
ReplyDeleteI actually know these because I am just a wee bit of an animal lover. Ovine is the adjective referring to sheep characteristics. Caprine (just like capricorn!) is the adjective referring to the characteristics of a goat. Plus, porcine is the adjective for pig like characteristics. My mom often refers to some characteristics of my father's family as 'they were big, fat, gobby fat people'. I always say 'porcine, mom. porcine.'. Sounds nicer, huh? Wow, didn't mean this to turn into epic. Me and words. Sorry, I can't stop with just a few.
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