porcupine

[ pawr-kyuh-pahyn ]

noun

1. any of several rodents covered with stiff, sharp, erectile spines or quills, as Erethizon dorsatum of North America.

porcupine

/ ˈpɔːkjʊˌpaɪn /

noun

1. any of various large hystricomorph rodents of the families Hystricidae, of Africa, Indonesia, S Europe, and S Asia, and Erethizontidae, of the New World. All species have a body covering of protective spines or quills

Derived Forms

• ˈporcuˌpinish, adjective
• ˈporcuˌpiny, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of porcupine¹

1375–1425; late Middle English porcupyne, variant of porcapyne; replacing porke despyne < Middle French porc d'espine thorny pig. See pork, spine

Word History and Origins

Origin of porcupine¹

C14 porc despyne pig with spines, from Old French porc espin; see pork , spine

Example Sentences

For some reason, when they step into the real world, Moose and Porcupine become human, but I wouldn’t want to start asking questions to which there can’t be any good answers, so we’ll leave it at that.

From Los Angeles Times

There are 16 porcupine species in Central and South America, but only one in the United States and Canada.

From Science Daily

DNA evidence suggests North America's sole porcupine belongs to a group that originated 10 million years ago, but fossils seem to tell a different story.

From Science Daily

A new study published in the journal Current Biology claims to have reconciled the dispute, thanks to an exceptionally rare, nearly complete porcupine skeleton discovered in Florida.

From Science Daily

While studying as a doctoral student at the Florida Museum of Natural History, Vitek teamed up with vertebrate paleontology curator Jonathan Bloch to create a college course in which students got hands-on research experience by studying porcupine fossils.

From Science Daily