equine

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin equīnus (“of a horse, of horses; of horsehair”),^[2][3][4][5] from equus (“horse”) and the adjective suffix -īnus,^[2][6][7] which gives English -ine.^[8][9] Weekley allows that it may also have been borrowed from the much older French équin.^[10] The Latin noun is from Proto-Indo-European *ekwo- (“horse”),^[3][5] the source too of Ancient Greek ἵππος (híppos), Old Irish ech, Old English eoh, Old Norse jór and the first part of Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐍄𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹 (aihwatundi, “thornbush, literally 'horse tooth'”).^{[4][7][11][9]} Latin also had equa (“mare”) from the same noun.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of, belonging to or resembling a horse: 1778, in G. L. Way's Learning at a Loss.^[2] The sources differ on the date: Etymonline gives 1765, Merriam-Webster 1776, and Barnhart 1788.^[3][7][4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective kept its first sense, of or like a horse, and has also been used of anything affecting horses.^[2][8] With the zoological family Equidae it was widened to cover the horse's relatives, the zebras and asses.^[12][7] As a noun, a horse or an equid, it is recorded from 1883.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1778 – of, belonging to or resembling a horse.^[2]
• 1883 – noun, a horse; an equid.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or resembling a horse: an equine profile.^[12][7][2]
2. Of or belonging to the family Equidae, which includes horses, zebras and asses.^[12][7]

Noun

1. A horse, or another member of the horse family.^[7][2][8]

Word family

• equinely
• equinity
• unequine

Related words

• equestrian
• equitation
• hippo-
• hippopotamus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins