English

Noun

porpentine ‎(plural porpentines)

1. (archaic) porcupine
   • c. 1600, W. Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene V:

     “GHOST: I could a tale unfold whose lightest word / Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, / Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, / Thy knotted and combined locks to part / And each particular hair to stand on end, / Like quills upon the fretful porpentine

   • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XI:

     Odd that he [Hamlet's ghost] should have said porpentine when he meant porcupine. Slip of the tongue, no doubt, as so often happens with ghosts.