porcupine etymology

Etymology:

The word "porcupine" originates from the Old French "porc espin," literally meaning "spiny pig." This is a combination of "porc," meaning "pig," and "espin," meaning "thorn" or "spine."

Meaning:

A porcupine is a large rodent with a thick, prickly coat of quills or spines. Porcupines use their quills as a defense mechanism against predators.

Origin:

The word "porcupine" first appeared in English in the late 14th century. It is thought to have been introduced to Europe from the Americas, where the animal is native.

Note:

In some languages, the word for porcupine has a different etymology. For example, the German word "Stachelschwein" means "thorn pig," while the Spanish word "erizo" means "hedgehog."

porcupine relate terms

• spine

  Etymology The English word spine originates from the Old English word spina which i

• spike

  Etymology The word spike originates from the Old English word spica meaning a sharp

• aardvark

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• farrow

  Etymology Old English fearh meaning pig Meaning A farrow is a litter of pigs es

• porcelain

  Etymology Old French porcelaine Italian porcellana Latin porcellus piglet Meanin

• porcine

  Etymology Latin porcus pig Proto Indo European porkos pig Meaning Pertai

• pork

  Etymology Medieval Latin porcus Late Latin porcus Proto Indo European porkos Meani

• porcupine

  Etymology The word porcupine originates from the Old French porc espin literally me

• porpoise

  Etymology The word porpoise is derived from the Old French word porpeis which in t

• scapulimancy

  Etymology The term scapulimancy is derived from the following Latin Scapula Shou

• quill

  Etymology The word quill comes from the Middle English word quylle which in turn is

• manticore

  Etymology The word manticore derives from the Ancient Persian mardīkhor meaning m

• echidna

  Etymology The word echidna comes from the Ancient Greek word ἐχῖδνα ekhídna

• rodent

  Etymology The word rodent comes from the Latin word rodere which means to gnaw I

• port

  Etymology The word port comes from the Latin word portus meaning harbor or haven

• esoteric

  Etymology Esoteric comes from the Greek word esoterikos which means inner or secret

• mirror

  Etymology The word mirror comes from the Old French word mireor which in turn comes

• booze

  Etymology The word booze is derived from the Middle Dutch word būsen meaning to d