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por·cu·pine

(pôrkyə-pīn′)

Any of various rodents of the family Hystricidae, of Eurasia and Africa, or the family Erethizontidae, of the Americas, having long, sharp, erectile quills.

[Middle English porke despine, from Old French porc espin, ultimately (perhaps via Old Italian porcospino) from Vulgar Latin *porcospīnus : Latin porcus, pig; see porko- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + Latin spīna, thorn, spine (probably translation of Late Greek akanthokhoiros, hedgehog : Greek akantha, thorn + Greek khoiros, pig).]

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porcupine

North American porcupine

Erethizon dorsatum

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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