wolverene, -ine
(wʊlvəˈriːn)
Forms: 6–9 wolvering, 8– wolverene, -ine (6 wool-, ulvering(e, 7 woolverin(e, Sc. voluering).
[app. f. wolv-, inflexional stem of wolf n., but the formation is obscure.]
1. The glutton (Gulo luscus), now esp. the North American variety: see glutton A. 4.
| 1574 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 236 Furres of woolveringes for pedlers capps. 1591 G. Fletcher Russe Commw. (Hakl. Soc.) 14 Their beasts..are the losh,..the beare, the wolvering or wood dogge. 1619 Middleton Love & Antiq. D 1, Beasts bearing Furr,..Racoone, Moashye, Woluerine. 1747 G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Birds ii. 103 The Quick-Hatch, or Wolverene. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. Customs (1821) 225 Wolvering is a large animal, almost equal in size to the wolf. 1820 Harmon Jrnl. Voy. N. Amer. 426 The carcajou or wolverine, in shape and the colour of the hair, greatly resembles the skunk. 1855 Longfellow Hiaw. xvi. 40 How the Wolverine, uprising, Made him ready for the encounter. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas, Song of Dead 8 Where the wolverine tumbles their packs from the camp. |
2. The fur of the wolverene.
| 1596 Lanc. Wills (Chetham Soc. 1861) 2 A cassocke of grogran edged w{supt}{suph} ulveringe. 1612 Sc. Bk. Rates in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 307 Furres called..Volueringis the peice, vi li. 1833 Act 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 56 Wolverings, undressed. 1890 Daily News 28 Jan. 7/1 It is already prophesied that wolverine is to be the favourite fur next winter. 1895 Kipling 2nd Jungle Bk. 158 The long wolverine-fur fringe of her ermine hood. |
3. A nickname for an inhabitant of Michigan. So Wolverine State, Michigan.
| 1835 C. F. Hoffman Winter in Far West I. 207 The genuine wolverine, or naturalized Michiganian. 1847 Congressional Globe 5 Feb. 332/2 A great Government bank—..a full-grown..Wolverine wild-cat. 1875 Chamb. Jrnl. 13 Mar. 171/2 Michigan is Lake State or Wolverine State. |