adive en · NOUN
Etymology
From Spanish adive, from Andalusian Arabic, from Arabic الذِّئْب (aḏ-ḏiʔb). Doublet of dieb..
Meanings
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The golden jackal; a smaller sort of jackal, sometimes domesticated.
We are uncertain whether these two names denote animals of different species. We only know, that the jackal is larger, fiercer, and more difficult to tame than the adive;† but that, in every other article, the resemblance is perfect. Hence the adive may be only the jackal rendered smaller, feebler, and more gentle than the wild race, by being tamed and kept in a domestic state; for the adive is to the jackal nearly what the lap-dog, or small-water-dog, is to the shepherd's dog.
1830, Georges Louis Leclerc comte de Buffon, The Natural History of Quadrupeds, volume 3, page 104:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| adives | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (3)
pl szakal złocisty (a domesticated, smaller form of the jackal) · es adive (a domesticated, smaller form of the jackal) · fr adive (a domesticated, smaller form of the jackal)