porcupine
/ˈpɔː(ɹ)kjʊˌpaɪn/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
colloquial/ˈpɔː(ɹ)kiˌpaɪn/
porcupine noun: any of several rodents of either of the taxonomic families Hystricidae (Old World porcupines) or Erethizontidae (New World porcupines), both from the infraorder Hystricognathi, noted for their sharp spines or quills, which are raised when the animal is attacked or surprised.
Noun
porcupine (plural porcupines)
- Any of several rodents of either of the taxonomic families Hystricidae (Old World porcupines) or Erethizontidae (New World porcupines), both from the infraorder Hystricognathi, noted for their sharp spines or quills, which are raised when the animal is attacked or surprised.
- I have no evidence of grizzlies killing porcupines or vice versa. However, occasionally there is contact and sometimes a grizzly is injured or a porcupine killed, but the latter is rare.1981, Adolph Murie, The Grizzlies of Mount McKinley, page 218
- In particular, porcupines, hyenas, and leopards are known in Africa to transport bones to particular places.2010, Richard Potts, Early Hominid Activities at Olduvai, page 81
- An echidna.
porcupine meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
porcupine in Hindi
- rodent of the family Hystricidae
- साही sāhī, सेही sehī
porcupine in Tamil
- rodent of the family Hystricidae
- முள்ளம்பன்றி muḷḷampaṉṟi
porcupine in Marathi
- rodent of the family Hystricidae
- साळू sāḷū
porcupine in Urdu
- rodent of the family Hystricidae
- سیہہ
More languagesFewer languages
- porcupine in Bengali
- সজারু śojaru, হেঁজা hẽza, সেঁজার śẽjar, সেজার śejar
- porcupine in Telugu
- ముండ్లపంది muṇḍlapandi, శల్యకము śalyakamu, శల్యము śalyamu
- porcupine in Malayalam
- മുള്ളൻപന്നി muḷḷaṉpanni, എയ്യൻ eyyaṉ
- porcupine in Kannada
- ಮುಳ್ಪಂದಿ, ಮುಳ್ಳುವಂದಿ, ಮುಳ್ಳುಹಂದಿ, ಎಯ್
- porcupine in Punjabi
- ਸੇਹ seh
- porcupine in Gujarati
- શાહુડી śāhuḍī
- porcupine in Sanskrit
- श्वाविध् śvāvídh, कमठ kamaṭha
- porcupine in Assamese
- কেঁটেলা পহু kẽtela pohu
- porcupine in Pashto
- ششګی šašgáy
- porcupine in Tagalog
- landak, pwerkospin
- porcupine in Arabic
- نَيْص nayṣ, دُلْدُل duldul
- porcupine in Malay
- landak, cewe duri
- porcupine in Indonesian
- landak
- porcupine in Persian
- خارپشت xârpošt, تشی taši, سگرنه sogorne
- porcupine in Thai
- เม่น mên
- porcupine in Vietnamese
- nhím
- porcupine in Myanmar
- ဖြူ hpru, ဖြူကောင် hprukaung
Examples of porcupine in a sentence
- Hedgehogs are needled creatures, just like porcupines.
- A mother porcupine can give birth to between one and four porcupettes at one time.
- New World porcupines have some arboreal adaptations that are lacking in their more terrestrial Old World counterparts.
Synonyms of porcupine
Forms of porcupine
| plural | porcupines |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | porpentine |
| alternative form (obsolete) | porpintine |
Origin of porcupine
From Middle English porke despyne, from Old French porc-espin, from Latin porcus (“pig”) + spinus (“spine”), hence also spine pig. Cognate with Spanish puercoespín, Italian porcospino, Portuguese porco-espinho.
Words formed from porcupine
- African brush-tailed porcupine
- African crested porcupine
- Andean porcupine
- Bahia porcupine
- bicolored-spined porcupine
- black dwarf porcupine
- black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine
- Brazilian porcupine
- bristle-spined porcupine
- brown hairy dwarf porcupine
- brush-tailed porcupine
- Canada porcupine
- Canadian porcupine
- Cape porcupine
- common porcupine
- crested porcupine
- frosted hairy dwarf porcupine
- Koopman's porcupine
- long-tailed porcupine
- Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine
- Mexican tree porcupine
- New World porcupine
- North American porcupine
- Old World porcupine
- orange-spined hairy dwarf porcupine
- Paraguaian hairy dwarf porcupine
- Porcs
- Porcupine Abyssal Plain
- porcupine anole
- Porcupine Bank
- porcupine caribou
- porcupine crab
- Porcupine Creek
- porcupine family
- porcupinefish
- porcupine fish
- Porcupine Flat Campground
- porcupine flower
- Porcupine Freedom Festival
- Porcupine Gold Rush
- Porcupine Gorge National Park
- Queensland
- Australia
- porcupine grass
- Porcupine Hills
- Porcupine Lake
- Porcupine Mall
- Porcupine Meadows Provincial Park
- British Columbia
- Canada
- Porcupine Mountains
- Michigan
- Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
- Ontario
- Porcupine Plain
- Saskatchewan
- porcupine puffer
- Porcupine River
- Porcupine Seabight
- South Dakota
Phrases with porcupine
Questions about porcupine
- What does porcupine mean?
- Porcupine means any of several rodents of either of the taxonomic families Hystricidae (Old World porcupines) or Erethizontidae (New World porcupines), both from the infraorder Hystricognathi, noted for their sharp spines or quills, which are raised when the animal is attacked or surprised.
- What is porcupine in Hindi?
- Porcupine in Hindi is साही (sāhī), सेही (sehī). See Porcupine meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is porcupine?
- Porcupine is a noun.
- How do you pronounce porcupine?
- Porcupine is pronounced /ˈpɔː(ɹ)kjʊˌpaɪn/.
- What is the plural of porcupine?
- The plural of porcupine is porcupines.
Words near porcupine in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: porcupine (page history and authors); সজারু (Bengali) (page history and authors); ముండ్లపంది (Telugu) (page history and authors); എയ്യൻ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); porcupine (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); कमठ (Sanskrit) (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-porcupine.wav.
Cite this entry: “porcupine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/porcupine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.