Latin

Adjective

fēlīnus m ‎(feminine fēlīna, neuter fēlīnum); first/second declension

1. feline; of or pertaining to a cat
   • 1570, Anthony van Cuyck, Grammatica gallica, p. 16:

     Iau, miauler, est vocem felinam edere.

     (The triphthong) iau, (as in) miauler, is to emit a cat's cry.

   • 1652, Christoph Scheiner, Oculus, Liber I, Pars I, Cap. IV:

     Nam fundus Choroidis taurinae caeruleus, felinae flavus existit, &c.

     For the bottom of the taurine Choroid appears blue, the feline, yellow, and so on.

   • 1750, Jan Frederik Gronovius, Index supellectilis lapidea, p. 10:

     Lapis felinus, qui ferro attritus urinam felium redolet.

     The cat-stone, which, rubbed with iron, smells like the urine of cats.

   • 1811, Peter Simon Pallas, Zoographia rosso-asiatica, Vol. I, p. 14:

     In felino genere animalitas ad summum gradum evecta et animales spiritus maxime exaltati videntur.

     Within the feline kind are seen animality raised to the highest level and animals particularly elevated of the spirit.

Inflection

First/second declension.

Related terms

• fēlēs

Descendants

• English: feline
• French: félin
• Italian: felino
• Spanish: felino

References

• felinus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “felinus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.