English

Noun

ursal ‎(plural ursals)

1. (rare, archaic) The ursine seal or sea bear, better known as the northern fur seal, Callorhinus ursinus.
   • 1844, William Benjamin Carpenter, in the Popular Cyclopaedia of Natural Science, Zoology, volume 1, page 233:

     One of these, the Ursal, an inhabitant of the shores of the North Pacific Ocean, […]

   • 1851, Georges Cuvier (baron), Edward Blyth, Robert Mudie, George Johnston, John Obadiah Westwood, William Benjamin Carpenter, The animal kingdom: arranged after its organization, forming a natural history of animals, and an introduction to comparative anatomy, page 100:

     The Ursal (Ph. ursina, Gm. [Arctocephalus ursinus, F. Cuv. fig. 40.]—Eight feel long, no mane, varying from brown to whitish. From the north of the Pacific Ocean.

   • 1852, Samuel Maunder, The Treasury of Natural History, or a Popular Dictionary of Animated Nature, page 34:

     ARCTOCEPHALUS URSINUS. The Ursal; a species of Seal, from the north of the Pacific Ocean.

   • 1883, in The Shipwrecked Mariner, page 254:

     The sea-lions (Phoca jubata), the sea-bears (ursal seal), the shags (commorants) , and penguins seemed to live in harmony, […]

Adjective

ursal ‎(not comparable)

1. Of or pertaining to a bear or bears.
   • 1837, Thomas Carlyle, "A Mixed Society on the Coast" in Fraser's magazine, volume 16, page 201:

     Formerly, there must have been some kind of rule (to which I remember a striking exception), that if a peculiarly savage bear could be found in the naval service, he was selected as an agent for transports.... The subsequent encouragement of these ursal authorities was generally referable to military commandeers, whose ignorance of nautical matters led them to extol services that had no merit...

   • 1850, Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments: the text carefully printed from the most correct copies of the present authorized translation, including the marginal readings and parallel texts, with a commentary and critical notes, designed as a help to a better understanding of the sacred writings, page 583:

     He believed himself to be a bear, and would imitate the ursal growl, &c.: and the case did not appear to be hypochondriacal.

   • 1854, J. W. Parker and son, Our cruise in the Undine: the journal of an English pair-oar expedition through France, Baden, Rhenish Bavaria, Prussia, and Belgium, pages 94-5:

     Our landlord's delight at our return was very great, he called us his dear sons, and said he knew we must come back again; he embraced us after the fashion of an ursal hug...

   • 1897, Frank Moss, The American metropolis: from Knickerbocker days to the present time; New York City life in all its various phases, volume 2, page 91:

     Don't let any one suppose that we have forgotten the "bulls" and the "bears."... The "taural" and "ursal" properties are simply hides, put on "to make medicine," as the Indians would say.