cygnine

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English

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Etymology 1

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From Latin cygnus (swan), with English -ine.

Adjective

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cygnine (comparative more cygnine, superlative most cygnine)

  1. (zoology) Being of the genus Cygnus (swan), within subfamily Anserinae of the family Anatidae, though sometimes considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae.
    • 1869, Elliott Coues, On the Classification of Water Birds, Merrihew & Son, published 1870, page 26:
      The genus Choristopus, Eyton, apparently Anserine rather than Cygnine, is said to possess this character []
  2. Of, concerning, pertaining to, resembling, or having the characteristics of a swan or swans.
    • 1848, Edmund Saul Dixon, Ornamental and Domestic Poultry[1], page 20:
      But, in the cutting of it, if thou dost shed / One drop of cygnine blood, thy clumsiness...
    • 1915, Zoologische Jahrbücher: Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und [] [2], volume 38, page 44:
      On the whole, then, the bones of the pectoral arch in Dendrocygna — if we may judge from the two North American species of the genus — are more anatine than they are either anserine or cygnine.
    • 1949, G. L. Hendrickson, Classical Philology, Vol. 44, No. 1, page 30 alternate
      ...scarcely a translator can be found who conveys any other impression than that Horace becomes a swan before our eyes. One almost wonders in what cygnine dialect the rest of the poem was spoken.
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Etymology 2

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From the Swan River, in Western Australia where the toxic plants were discovered.

Noun

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cygnine (uncountable)

  1. (dated) An alkaloid from plants of genus Gastrolobium, found in Australia, principally Western Australia, highly toxic to introduced animals.

See also

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