leporine

Syllables: lep·or·ine/ˈlɛpəɹaɪn/US/ˈlɛpəˌɹaɪn/

leporine adjective: of, relating to, or characteristic of a hare or a rabbit.

Adjective

leporine (not comparable)

(also, figuratively) Of, relating to, or characteristic of a hare or a rabbit.
- His leporine ears perked up at the mention of dessert.
- This [the harp seal] inhabits the ſame countries vvith the Rough and Leporine Seal; but loves the coldeſt parts of the coaſt.1784, Thomas Pennant, “Harp Seal”, in Arctic Zoology, volume I (Introduction. Class I. Quadrupeds.), London: […] Henry Hughs, →OCLC, paragraph 77, page 164
Synonyms:

cuniculiform, leporiform, lagomorphic, harelike, cunicular, rabbitlike, rabbitish, rabbity

Noun

leporine (plural leporines)

Synonym of leporid (“any mammal of the family Leporidae: the hares and rabbits”).
- The most frequent intestinal parasite of rodents is probably Oxyuris ambigua, but Strong. retortæformis is tolerably abundant in the hare, and Trichocephalus unguiculatus is liable to occur in all leporines. […] Acari infest rats and mice, and especially leporines.1879, T[homas] Spencer Cobbold, “Parasites of Animals”, in Parasites; a Treatise on the Entozoa of Man and Animals, including Some Account of the Ectozoa, London: J[ohn] & A[ugustus] Churchill, […]...
- It will be seen that the variability in any one formula (excepting the anomaly of m. ⁴⁄₄) is confined to the premolars; that these only vary in one instance in the Hystricines; and that the incisors only vary from ²⁄₂ to ⁴⁄₂ in the Leporines.1888, Elliott Coues, “Order II.—Rodentia.”, in John Sterling Kingsley, editor, The Riverside Natural History, volume V (Mammals), London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., […], →OCLC, page 70
Synonyms:

leporid
(historical) A supposed hybrid between a hare and a rabbit, now known not to exist; a leporide.
- I come now to the more interesting part of my subject, viz. that of the Leporines—hybrids, so called, between the hare and the rabbit. It has been stated that M. Rouy, of Angoulême, has bred for the market a thousand of these Leporines yearly—that they are fertile both with the hare and the rabbit...1861 February 26, Edwards Crisp, “On Some Points Relating to the Habits and Anatomy of the Oceanic and of the Freshwater Ducks, and also of the Hare (Lepus timidus) and of the Rabbit (L. cuniculus)...
- In France there is a hybrid bred between the rabbit and the hare, known as the leporine, that is said to be fertile; I do not know much about it. I tried to get some definite information on the matter and failed. I simply know that I have seen numers of statements going the rounds of the press that...1887, W[illia]m H[enry] Brewer, “Syllabus of Lectures on the Principles of Stock Breeding [Fourth Lecture. Crossing—Breeding to Points.]”, in Report of the Department of Agriculture of the University...

leporine meaning in Tamil and Arabic

leporine in Arabic

of, relating to, or resembling a hare or rabbit: أَرْنَبِيّ ʔarnabiyy

Examples of leporine in a sentence

[T]he fur [of the hispid hare] is very remarkable for an animal of the Leporine group, on account of its harshness, which is well expressed by the specific appellation hispidus.1846 March, E[dward] Blyth, “XXIV.—Description of Caprolagus, a New Genus of Leporine Mammalia.”, in The Annals and Magazine of Natural...
I further give an anatomical systematic revision of the adult leporine tapeworms, together with their generic relationship to the cestodes of cattle, sheep, and horses.1897, Ch[arles] Wardell Stiles, “A Revision of the Adult Tapeworms of Hares and Rabbits”, in Proceedings of the United States National...
Ayers]. / Having little faith in economists, even leporine ones, I propose to examine Ayers' thesis carefully.1975 February, Dennis J. Chase, “A Commentary: Clouding the Nuclear Reactor Debate”, in Eugene Rabinowitch, editor, The Bulletin of the...
The aforementioned rodent and leporine studies represented some of the first in vivo reports of intra-amniotic injection of fetal cells in mammals.2021, Stefanie P. Lazow, Dario O. Fauza, “Transamniotic Stem Cell Therapy”, in Kürşad Türkşen, editor, Cell Biology and Translational...

Synonyms of leporine

All synonyms of leporine

Forms of leporine

plural	leporines

Origin of leporine

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin leporīnus + English -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Leporīnus is derived from leporis (the genitive singular form of lepus (“hare”)) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). The noun is derived from the adjective.

Questions about leporine

What does leporine mean?: Leporine means of, relating to, or characteristic of a hare or a rabbit.
What is leporine in Tamil?: Leporine in Tamil is முயல் இனத்தைச் சார்ந்த. See Leporine meaning in Tamil.
How do you use leporine in a sentence?: [T]he fur [of the hispid hare] is very remarkable for an animal of the Leporine group, on account of its harshness, which is well expressed by the specific appellation hispidus.
What part of speech is leporine?: Leporine can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce leporine?: Leporine is pronounced /ˈlɛpəɹaɪn/ (UK).

Words near leporine in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: leporine (page history and authors); leporine (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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Cite this entry: “leporine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/leporine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.