Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of or belonging to the subfamily Anserinae, which comprises the geese.
- adjective Of or resembling a goose; gooselike.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Relating to or resembling a goose, or the skin of a goose: sometimes applied to the skin when roughened by cold or disease (goose-flesh).
- Hence Stupid as a goose; foolish; silly.
- Specifically, in ornithology, resembling a goose or duck so closely as to be included in the family Anatidœ; being one of the Anatidœ.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Pertaining to, or resembling, a goose, or the skin of a goose.
- adjective (Zoöl.) Pertaining to the Anseres.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective zoology Being from the subfamily
Anserinae of the familyAnatidae . - adjective Of, concerning, or resembling a
goose orgeese ; gooselike. - adjective
Silly ,foolish ,stupid .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of or resembling a goose
- adjective having or revealing stupidity
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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To my knowledge,'anserine' is a perfectly respectable, albeit uncommon, adjective in our language.
Uncommon Valor: Protecting Humanity for Flock's Sake BikeSnobNYC 2008
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And that one was the victim of anserine necrophilia.
Archive 2005-12-01 2005
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And that one was the victim of anserine necrophilia.
It's A Bird's Life! 2005
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It is all very easy for you, middle-aged reader, sitting over this page in the broad daylight, to call me by all manner of asinine and anserine unchristian names, because I had these fancies running through my head.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 25, November, 1859 Various
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The gaff is blown, the anserine guard gives tongue with might and main.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 102, February 6, 1892 Various
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We have "progressed" from the manly independence and fierce patriotism of our forebears to a namby-pamby foreign policy that compels our citizens abroad to seek protection of the consuls of other countries from the spirit that made our flag respected in every land and honored on every sea, to the anserine cackle of "jingoism" whenever an American manifests a love of country or professes a national pride.
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You are the state's hired hand, Charlie boy -- duly employed to remain at Austin and display your anserine ignorance in the governor's office.
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Uncle Sam would have supposed this simian hubbub and anserine to-do meant nothing less than a new epocha for the universe, it being undecided whether it should be auriferous or argentiferous -- an age of gold or a cycle of silver.
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Since then he had respected her person, but to the day of his death he had cursed her for anserine stupidity.
The Belovéd Vagabond William John Locke 1896
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One of their most charming bits of classic art is the famous miniature statue of the Gooseman; and the real name of the great Gutenberg, who, by his invention of printing, did more than any other mortal to make it easy for the human race to acquire the anserine mental habits, and the anserine moral characteristics, was Gänsfleisch!
Germany and the Germans From an American Point of View Price Collier 1886
recombinantdna commented on the word anserine
nothing to do with serine...?
August 22, 2008
reesetee commented on the word anserine
Nope! Geese. Unless geese have serine, which they could for all I know. :-)
Apparently it also means "silly," as in "silly goose."
August 22, 2008
rolig commented on the word anserine
Nice, rt. I love these -ine animal words, especially if they can be used figuratively. Now I'll have to think of a use for "anserine."
August 22, 2008
reesetee commented on the word anserine
I like them too. Papageno's list (see right) is quite exhaustive, and I believe sionnach has a nice gang on his list of "Beastly Adjectives."
August 22, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word anserine
The -ine suffix is very, very, very common since it's the subfamily suffix. But I like the figurative sense!
August 22, 2008
hernesheir commented on the word anserine
Railroad telegraphers' shorthand meaning "has been answered". --US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906.
January 20, 2013
qms commented on the word anserine
Some goose virtues are truly fine
But its silly image needs a shine.
This we'll do simply:
When flesh grows pimply
It will now be called toile anserine.
I tinkered these lines together and then paused to reflect: I am growing wiser to the ways of the Wordnikians when they gather round a trencher of haggis to plot the next Word of the Day. I figured there had to be something goosey about May 1. It took a little looking because May 1 is festooned with associations, but since 1987 it has been Mother Goose Day! I figure it is only right to salute the old girl:
Our thanks, dear Gran, for rhyme and line
To seed our childhood memory mine.
With praise profuse
We hail Mother Goose
And declare May One most anserine.
May 1, 2014