porcupine

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɔː(ɹ)kjʊˌpaɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English porke despyne,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} borrowed from Old French porc espin (“spiny pig”),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin porcus (“pig”) and spīna “thorn, spine”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Merriam-Webster takes the French word from Old Italian porcospino.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The rodent covered with defensive quills (before 1400).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word had many forms in Middle and early Modern English, such as portepyn, porkpen and porkenpick;^[4][7] Shakespeare's Hamlet has porpentine.^[4][6] The same idea of a “spiny pig” gives the name in other languages, such as German Stachelschwein.^[4] The popular belief that the porcupine shoots its quills probably arose from its habit of slapping its tail, which may fling loose quills some distance.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1400 – porke despyne.^[7][3][4]
• c. 1400 – portepyn.^[3]
• 1530 – porpentine.^[7]
• 1834 – English porcupine, the hedgehog.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of various rodents of the Old World family Hystricidae or the New World family Erethizontidae, covered with long, sharp, erectile quills mixed with coarse hair.

Related words

• porcine
• porky
• pork
• spine
• hedgehog

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press