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What is "ferine"

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ferine
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ferine

Ferine \Fe"rine\, a. [L. ferinus, fr. ferus wild. See Fierce.] Wild; untamed; savage; as, lions, tigers, wolves, and bears are ferine beasts.
--Sir M. Hale. -- n. A wild beast; a beast of prey. -- Fe"rine*ly, adv. -- Fe"rine*ness, n.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
ferine

"wild, in a state of nature," 1630s, from Latin ferinus "pertaining to wild animals," from fera "a wild beast, wild animal" (see fierce).

Wiktionary
ferine

a. (context now rare English) Pertaining to wild, menacing animals; feral.

WordNet
ferine

adj. wild and menacing; "a ferocious dog" [syn: feral, savage]

Usage examples of "ferine".

There was a silence of some seconds, and his yellow ferine gaze met hers strangely.

It was ferine and spectral, and so tremendously violent, that the long attorney, expecting nothing of the sort, was thrown out of his balance against the chimneypiece.

Who, within his inner consciousness, does not feel that same ferine, savage man struggling against the stern, adamantine bonds of morality and decorum?