ovine
/ˈoʊˌvaɪn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.68 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of, being, pertaining to, or resembling a sheep; also, (not comparable) of an animal: from the genus Ovis.
adj
Resembling a sheep in character; acquiescent, easily influenced, passive, or willing to follow a leader blindly.
noun
A person regarded as resembling a sheep in character; one who is acquiescent, easily influenced, passive, or willing to follow a leader blindly; a sheep.
Example Sentences
- "[…] Dr. [Mauro] Legni reported to him a month afterward that the ovination had been successful, and that no marked differences had been observable between the vesicles produced by the ovine and those produced by the vaccine lymph. Dr. Legni added, that he had continued to propagate the ovine lymph on children."
- "Satyr was a gleam of classical memory on the part of Moreau,—his face ovine in expression, like the coarser Hebrew type; his voice a harsh bleat"
- "Thus, in general, cattle sperm are reasonably robust, but sheep much less so. Antelope, evolutionarily speaking, are somewhere between cattle and sheep: some are cattle-like, and some are more ovine."
- "Ovine meat currently averages 25% of meat production in these countries, but over the projections period, the strongest production gains are expected in the poultry meat sector, contributing 41% to their meat output gains."
- "The Patient from being Maniacl, or raging mad, became vvholly Ovine or Sheepiſh; he bleated perpetually, and chevv'd the Cud: […]"
- "At present, municipal councillors play at party politics by organizing the ovine members who do not know how to vote until a Party Whip tells them, and opposing independent candidates at the elections."
Etymology
The adjective is borrowed from Late Latin ovīnus (“ovine”) + English -ine (suffix with the sense ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). Ovīnus is derived from Latin ovis (“sheep”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis (“sheep”), possibly from *h₂ew- (“to clothe oneself, dress; to be dressed”) in the sense of something that provides woollen clothing) + -īnus (suffix with the sense ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, ove- + -ine. The noun is derived from the adjective.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈoʊˌvaɪn/
- British English: /ˈəʊvaɪn/
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
corticorelin ovine triflutate
infectious ovine keratoconjunctivitis
ovine acetonaemia
ovine acetonemia
ovine babesiosis
ovine-caprine lentivirus
ovine ecthyma vaccine
ovine foot rot