ursine, a.
(ˈɜːsaɪn, -ɪn)
[ad. L. ursīn-us (whence Sp. and Pg. ursino, It. orsino, Pr. orsin, Fr. oursin), f. ūrsus bear.]
1. Of or pertaining to, characteristic of, due to, a bear or bears.
| c 1550 Clariodus iv. 1063 Full corpolent he was with breist ursyne,..and sperit leonine. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Ursine,..of or belonging to a Bear. 1841 Hor. Smith Moneyed Man I. x. 290 Quotations from Scripture as to the ursine fate of prophet-mockers. 1851 Kingsley Yeast xiii, The ursine howls of the new-comer. 1880 Harting Brit. Anim. Extinct i. 14 Portions of ursine skeletons. |
2. Of the nature of, resembling or having the essential characteristics of, a bear; consisting of bears.
| 1833–4 J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 695/2 Bones of ursine..animals..are rare. 1859 Sala Tw. round Clock 132 Any fierce or ancient member of the ursine tribe. 1870 Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 2) I. App. 768 The bear..had also, it would seem, known ursine descendants. |
b. In specific names of animals: (see
quots.).
| 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1805) I. 64 The *Ursine Baboon. These animals..are found in great numbers among the mountains at the Cape. 1834 Pringle Afr. Sk. viii. 274 The ursine or dog-faced baboon..is covered with shaggy hair, of a greenish brown colour. |
| c 1793 Shaw Naturalist's Misc. III. Cc. pl. 58, The *Ursine Bradypus, or Ursiform Sloth. |
| c 1842 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 259/1 Dasyurus [ursinus]... The *Ursine Dasyure or Devil of the Tasmanian Colonists. |
| 1884 Imp. Dict. IV. 530 *Ursine howler, the Mycetes ursinus. |
| 1800 Shaw Gen. Zool. I. ii. 504 *Ursine Opossum. Didelphis Ursina... The largest of all the Opossums:..Native of New Holland. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 454/2 The Ursine Opossum utters a kind of hollow barking. |
| c 1842 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 262/2 The *Ursine and other Phalangers. |
| 1778 Cook Voy. Pac. Ocean iv. v. (1784) II. 377 From the colour and shagginess of the hair,..we judged it might probably be..the large male *ursine seal. or sea-bear. 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1805) I. 193 The Ursine Seals live in families. Every male is surrounded by a seraglio of from eight to fifty mistresses. 1849 Sk. Nat. Hist., Mammalia III. 195 The skin of the ursine seal is very thick. |
| 1800 Shaw Gen. Zool. I. i. 159 *Ursine Sloth. Bradypus Ursinus... Black Sloth, with very long shaggy hair. 1867 Brande & Cox Dict. Sci., etc. III. 910/1 The labiated bear, commonly called the ursine sloth. |
3. Suggestive of that or those of a bear; bear-like. Also
transf. (
cf. bearish a. 2).
| 1837 Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 522 Whatever remarkable persons have been noted for ursine manners. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. iv. v. (1872) I. 307 An ursine man-of-genius. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 13 Dec. 11/1 To the joy of all, from the Governor of the Bank of England down to the gambler in mining shares—always excepting the ursine fraternity. |
Hence
† ˈursinal a. Obs.—1| a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xlii. 344 His Dam..put his Members into that..shape which Nature had provided for those of an..Ursinal kind. |