feline

/ˌfiˈlaɪn/

/ˈfilaɪn/

Other forms: felines; felinely

You can describe your kitten as your young feline friend, since feline describes anything having to do with cats.

The adjective feline is useful when you're talking about cats — just as canine describes dogs, and ursine describes bears. You might talk about the special feline food and toys you buy for your pet, or describe his feline beauty. You can even describe a person as feline, if something about him or her is catlike. The Latin root felinus means "of or belonging to a cat," from feles, "cat."

Definitions of feline

1. adjective

   of or relating to cats
   “feline fur”
2. noun

   any of various lithe-bodied roundheaded fissiped mammals, many with retractile claws
   synonyms: felid

   types:

   cat, true cat

   feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats

   big cat, cat

   any of several large cats typically able to roar and living in the wild

   Felis catus, Felis domesticus, domestic cat, house cat

   any domesticated member of the genus Felis

   wildcat

   any small or medium-sized cat resembling the domestic cat and living in the wild

   Panthera pardus, leopard

   large feline of African and Asian forests usually having a tawny coat with black spots

   Panthera uncia, ounce, snow leopard

   large feline of upland central Asia having long thick whitish fur

   Felis onca, Panthera onca, jaguar, panther

   a large spotted feline of tropical America similar to the leopard; in some classifications considered a member of the genus Felis

   Panthera leo, king of beasts, lion

   large gregarious predatory feline of Africa and India having a tawny coat with a shaggy mane in the male

   Panthera tigris, tiger

   large feline of forests in most of Asia having a tawny coat with black stripes; endangered

   liger

   offspring of a male lion and a female tiger

   tiglon, tigon

   offspring of a male tiger and a female lion

   Acinonyx jubatus, cheetah, chetah

   long-legged spotted cat of Africa and southwestern Asia having nonretractile claws; the swiftest mammal; can be trained to run down game

   saber-toothed tiger, sabertooth

   any of many extinct cats of the Old and New Worlds having long swordlike upper canine teeth; from the Oligocene through the Pleistocene

   type of:

   carnivore

   a terrestrial or aquatic flesh-eating mammal