Do All Animals Get An Adjective? (e.g. feline, bovine, canine...)

[Paul_in_Qatar]

psittacine - Parrots

[SteepSix]

@Gymnopithys

It’s asinine. So nothing to do with… you know.

Is asinine not ‘donkey-like’?

[Ludovic]

@SGT42

Simius in Latin means both monkey and ape. By the way, English is, to my knowledge, the only language that has a separate word for ape. In Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and German, there is only one word to designate both types of primates.

I was going to make a joke about Spanish being mono-terminological. But apparently mono does mean monkey and simio means ape, according to Google Translate. It’s possible that one or both of these can also be used for the other but I don’t know spanish.

[Chronos]

To answer Blake’s point from lo, these many years ago that most genera contain multiple species, is that really a problem? Something that’s like a wallaby will also be like a kangaroo, because wallabies and kangaroos are so much alike, and so a word meaning like the one should also mean like the other. If two species are so dissimilar that it would be useful to describe something as being like one but not the other, then they’re probably in different genera.

[furryman]

Bull = Turine
Now I know what’s in Red Bull.
Yuck, remind me to never drink red bull again.

[Derleth]

@furryman

Bull = Turine
Now I know what’s in Red Bull.

No, you don’t:

Taurine (/ˈtɔːriːn/), or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, is an organic compound that is widely distributed in animal tissues.[1] It is a major constituent of bile and can be found in the large intestine, and accounts for up to 0.1% of total human body weight. Taurine has many fundamental biological roles, such as conjugation of bile acids, antioxidation, osmoregulation, membrane stabilization, and modulation of calcium signaling. It is essential for cardiovascular function, and development and function of skeletal muscle, the retina, and the central nervous system.

[Chronos]

Though it would be fair to say that energy drinks in general are a lot of bull.

[furryman]

Taurine (/ˈtɔːriːn/), or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, is an organic compound that is widely distributed in animal tissues.[1] It is a major constituent of bile and can be found in the large intestine, and accounts for up to 0.1% of total human body weight.

That actually sounds worse than what I was imagining. Yuck again.

[Nava]

@Ludovic

I was going to make a joke about Spanish being mono-terminological. But apparently mono does mean monkey and simio means ape, according to Google Translate. It’s possible that one or both of these can also be used for the other but I don’t know spanish.

Both can be used for both; apes is grandes monos or grandes simios.

Mono is more colloquial than simio or primate, but that’s all. The meaning is the same. Mono has additional meanings (cute; coveralls; prefix meaning ‘one’…) but when it refers to primates it refers to all of them (generally but not always excluding humans).

[P-man]

Goat- hircine

From Cecil himself.

[Enola_Straight]

Iguana = ?

[DPRK]

@Enola_Straight

Iguana = ?

What’s wrong with “iguanous”? Cf. Latin squama (1st declension) -> squamous

[Ignotus]

@RickJay

Many animals have an adjective attached to them that means “like this animal.” For instance, if someone exhibited a grace you would associate with a cat, you might call it “feline.” A man of extremely impressive size and bearing might be said to “have an almost ursine appearance,” meaning he’s a lot like a bear. I know these ones:

Cats - Feline
Dogs - Canine
Bears - Ursine
Cattle - Bovine
Sheep - Ovine
Horses - Equine
Foxes - Vulpine
Wolves - Lupine
Monkeys - Simian (not sure why it’s a different form)

My question is, do ALL types of animal have an adjective form? Is there a word like this for, say, snails, or are you stuck just calling them “snail-like”?

It’s been ten years since, but as the answer to the OP:s last question doesn’t seem to have been answered yet:* snail-like* = limacine.

[DPRK]

@DPRK

What’s wrong with “iguanous”? Cf. Latin squama (1st declension) -> squamous

On second thought, I retract that in favour of “iguanine”, for obvious reasons.

[Colibri]

@Enola_Straight

Iguana = ?

For lizards in general, there’s lacertine.

Iguanine is the technical term for iguanas and their relatives.

For toads, it’s bufonine.

[Darren_Garrison]

Then of course there is porcupineine.

[Ignotus]

@Colibri

For lizards in general, there’s lacertine.

Iguanine is the technical term for iguanas and their relatives.

For toads, it’s bufonine.

Not to be confused with bufotenin.

Now, that stuff might really get you confused…

[Morgyn]

@DPRK

What’s wrong with “iguanous”? Cf. Latin squama (1st declension) -> squamous

Lovecraft was talking about iguanas? That puts a whole new spin on the mythos.

(Yes, I saw your later post. Don’t care. It was too good to pass up.)

[oneworldflag]

Why not swine for pigs?

[Colibri]

Swine is a noun. The adjective is porcine.