Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or belonging to the family Felidae, which includes the lions, tigers, jaguars, and wild and domestic cats; felid.
  • adjective Suggestive of a cat, as in suppleness or stealthiness.
  • noun An animal of the family Felidae.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Catlike in form or structure, as an animal; of or pertaining to the Felidæ, Felinæ, or genus Felis; typically æluroid.
  • Pertaining to or characteristic of animals of the cat tribe; cat-like in character or quality; resembling a cat in any respect: often applied to persons: as, feline softness of step; feline stealthiness, cruelty, or treachery.
  • noun One of the Felidæ or Felinæ; a feline or cat-like animal; in popular use, a domestic cat.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Zoöl.) Catlike; of or pertaining to the genus Felis, or family Felidæ
  • adjective Characteristic of cats; sly; stealthy; treacherous

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A cat; member of the cat family Felidae.
  • adjective Of, or pertaining to, the cat.
  • adjective catlike (resembling a cat)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of various lithe-bodied roundheaded fissiped mammals, many with retractile claws
  • adjective of or relating to cats

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin fēlīnus or Late Latin fēlīneus, both from Latin fēlēs, cat.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin fēlīnus, from fēlēs 'wildcat, marten', from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘wildcat’ (compare Welsh bele 'marten', Sanskrit bharuja 'jackal', Moldivian balu 'dog').

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Substantive use of the adjective feline, from Latin felinus

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Examples

  • Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, starring Robin Williams as the title feline narrator.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • "Krazy Kat's" cast of characters includes the title feline, who is in love with Ignatz Mouse, and Offisa Pupp, a protective police dog.

    Princeton University Top Stories Marguerite d'Aprile-Smith 2010

  • The term feline is then searched and different search terms are then showed which gives them more alternatives.

    Search Engine Watch Forums 2008

  • In other words, there's little evidence that the feline is anything more than a very large (feral?) domestic cat.

    Archive 2007-05-01 2007

  • "Walter Cook, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency captive wildlife coordinator, said the feline is a caracal, not a cougar." ...

    Archive 2006-11-01 2006

  • Mood index: didn't we do this 4 years ago? mainly in the fact that, this morning, the feline is actually looking for the visiting calico.

    there is still amusement in the world... suricattus 2004

  • Premiering the new Dreamworks animated adventure on a cruise ship, Hayek, who plays co-adventurer Kitty Softpaws, and Antonio Banderas, the voice of the title feline, held court in front of a captive audience of "Shrek" spinoff enthusiasts.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • From my crash course in feline hyperthyroidism on Sunday night, cats are then in isolation for two weeks.

    Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt » 2010 » April 2010

  • Maybe there is a job for him in feline Pesematology!

    Is there a Feline Pesematologist in the house? 2009

  • Jaylee: your story of your "high velocity feline" is so funny (oh, our poor animals who get stuck in our inventions: chairs, bags, and the rest!)

    poursuivre - French Word-A-Day 2009

Comments

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  • I have a feline perched on my chest as I feverishly fight the feeling of inflicting another infectious alliteration on my newly found friends and/or foes.

    September 16, 2007

  • Fain, forget foe-fear, 'flowerss! Friends found, forsooth!

    September 17, 2007