Dictionary

belluine en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈbɛljuˌaɪn/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin belluīnus, an alternative spelling of bēluīnus (“animal, bestial; brutal”) (whence the English beluine) + -ine (“suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’”). Bēluīnus is derived from bēlua (“(wild) beast; monster; brute”) + -īnus (“suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’”) (from Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos (“suffix forming adjectives”)).

Meanings

1. (obsolete) Of, characteristic of, or pertaining to beasts; animal, bestial; brutal.
   • […] God ſuffereth his Church to be ſo afflicted, and more, eſpecially to be conſidered in ten, a perfect and compleat number, the compleat ripeneſſe of ſinne and impiety in that Belua [beast]; and as an indefinite number ten, being underſtood for many, as ſex centa pro infinito numero, the often aſſaults of his beluine homes and fury: […] 1643, W[illiam] S[latyer], “Part. 5. Of the Sacraments.”, in The Compleat Christian, and Compleat Armour and Armoury of a Christian, Fitting Him with All Necessary Furniture for that His Holy Profession: Or, The Doctrine of Salvation: […], [s.l.]: Printed for the authour, →OCLC, section 2 (Of Baptisme), page 674:
   • [H]ad you ſtaid, you would have taken but little comfort in your life, in regard that ever ſince ther have bin the fearfulleſt diſtractions here that ever happen'd upon any part of the earth, a Beluin kind of immanity never rag'd ſo among men, inſomuch that the whole Countrey might have taken its appellation from the ſmalleſt part thereof, and be call'd the Iſle of Dogs; for all humanity, common honeſty, and that Manſuetude with other Moral Civilities which ſhould diſtinguiſh the rational Creature from other Animals, have been loſt here a good while; […] 1647 May 14 (Gregorian calendar), James Howell, “XV. To Sir K. D. at Paris.”, in [Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ.] A Third Volume of Familiar Letters of a Fresher Date. […], 3rd edition, volume III, London: […] Humphrey Mos[e]ley, […], published 1655, →OCLC, section, page 25:
   • […] And again, becauſe ſome Men are not guided by Reaſon, but a belluine Appetite of ſenſible things, and owning no eſſential Diſtinction of moral Good and Evil, or of Mine and Thine, have no other Standard to act by, and no other End in view, but only their temporal Self-intereſt; […] 1732, [Ralph Cudworth], chapter XIV, in An Abridgment of Dr. Cudworth’s True Intellectual System of the Universe. […], volume II, London: Printed for John Oswald […], →OCLC, page 775:
   • He that perſecutes Chriſtianity, muſt perſecute righteouſneſs, peace and joy in the Holy Ghoſt, in which whoſoever ſerveth Chriſt (as every one muſt do that ſerves him) is accepted of God and approved of men; and therefore to deſpiſe Chriſtianity, is not only Belluine but Deviliſh. 1683, Tho[mas] Beverley, “Isa[iah] XI. 6, 7, 8, 9”, in The Principles of Protestant Truth and Peace, in Four Treatises. […], London: Printed for Tho[mas] Parkhurst and Will[iam] Miller […], →OCLC, page 30:
   • When a great truculent, bull-headed man, who has been living in the indulgence of the most beluine parts of his nature, begins to be subdued by home influences, and the little child is able to lead him; when his great strength begins to be brought under the control of his tenderer domestic affections, everbody says, “How beautiful the sight is!” It is beautiful. 1870 March–September, Henry Ward Beecher, “Beauty”, in The Sermons of Henry Ward Beecher in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. […] (Plymouth Pulpit; [Fourth] Series), New York, N.Y.: J. B. Ford & Company, […], published 1871, →OCLC, page 91:
   • There are three kinds of men, he [Girolamo Cardano] says—the divine, which neither deceive nor are deceived; the human, which deceive but are not deceived; and the belluine, which cannot deceive but are deceived. Men who deceive and are deceived belong to a compound sort; they are part human and part belluine. 1854, Henry Morley, “Fatherly and Household Cares—Marvels of Science—The Professorship Resigned”, in Jerome Cardan. The Life of Girolamo Cardano, of Milan, Physician. … In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 66:

Forms

Synonyms

beastly · animalistic

Translations (2)

it belluino (of, characteristic of, or pertaining to beasts — see also bestial) · la bēluīnus (of, characteristic of, or pertaining to beasts — see also bestial)