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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

ovine.

Of, being, pertaining to, or resembling a sheep; also, (not comparable) of an animal: from the genus Ovis.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈəʊvaɪn/Received-Pronunciation/ˈoʊˌvaɪn/General-American
  1. Of, being, pertaining to, or resembling a sheep; also, (not comparable) of an animal: from the genus Ovis.

    comparable
  2. Resembling a sheep in character; acquiescent, easily influenced, passive, or willing to follow a leader blindly.

    comparable · figuratively
Where this word comes from

The adjective is borrowed from Late Latin ovīnus (“ovine”) + English -ine (suffix with the sense ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). Ovīnus is derived from Latin ovis (“sheep”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis (“sheep”), possibly from *h₂ew- (“to clothe oneself, dress; to be dressed”) in the sense of something that provides woollen clothing) + -īnus (suffix with the sense ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, ove- + -ine. The noun is derived from the adjective.

noun/ˈəʊvaɪn/Received-Pronunciation/ˈoʊˌvaɪn/General-American
  1. An animal from the genus Ovis; a sheep.

  2. A person regarded as resembling a sheep in character; one who is acquiescent, easily influenced, passive, or willing to follow a leader blindly; a sheep.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

The adjective is borrowed from Late Latin ovīnus (“ovine”) + English -ine (suffix with the sense ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). Ovīnus is derived from Latin ovis (“sheep”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis (“sheep”), possibly from *h₂ew- (“to clothe oneself, dress; to be dressed”) in the sense of something that provides woollen clothing) + -īnus (suffix with the sense ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, ove- + -ine. The noun is derived from the adjective.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.