leporine

[ lep-uh-rahyn, -rin ]

adjective

, Zoology.

1. of, relating to, or resembling a rabbit or hare.

leporine

/ ˈlɛpəˌraɪn /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling a hare

Word History and Origins

Origin of leporine¹

First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin leporīnus, equivalent to lepor- (stem of lepus “hare”) + -īnus -ine ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of leporine¹

C17: from Latin leporīnus, from lepus hare

Example Sentences

"I make cameos in my films as dying animals," reveals the 41-year-old, who follows up his chilling leporine screech with the agonised low moan he gave an expiring deer in his previous directorial effort.

From BBC

A prominent set of front teeth and a prodigious appetite for carrots inspired Shaw’s brother, Kentardo, to coin her leporine nickname, which she loathed at first until she “grew into it”.

From The Guardian

This may be partially because of a decline in the local rabbit population due to rabbit calicivirus, a widespread leporine hemorrhagic disease.

From National Geographic

Chapters begin with epigraphs drawn from the Greek tragic playwright Aeschylus and the military theorist Carl von Clausewitz; and Mr. Adams’s leporine world is so detailed as to include rabbit mythology and an onomatopoeic rabbit language.

From Washington Post

The secondary characters are somewhat disquieting: whose uncle, exactly, is Uncle Yawn, given that he’s human, not leporine?

From The New Yorker