"Christopher was looking at his most pardish, beautiful and slim and young …"

I came across this word today in Iris Murdoch's 'A word child'. Shorter Oxford has 'parded' [spotted as a panther, leopard] and 'pard'[a partner, a mate - slang, chiefly US, mid-19th century].

Neither is exactly appropriate in the context -- anyone else come across this word before? Unfortunately, we can no longer ask the author (whose novels I am currently reading and enjoying).

paulb, I think the (leo)pardish meaning fits the best,
given the context you put, Sweetie. Feline=graceful,
sinuous, etc. Seems to me that I have come across this word before, and that it was in a book written some generations ago, and it had that feline meaning.

I've not seen this usage before, but it strikes me as very descriptive of certain young men who are elegant, graceful - and predatory!

had he meant 'leopardlike' (and he may well have), he might better have used 'pardine' (see bovine, vulpine, corvine, canine, asinine, etc.) -- to my eye this flows better:
"Christopher was looking at his most pardine, beautiful and slim and young …"

>he might better have used 'pardine'<

To my thinking, 'pardish' is more instantly interpretable than 'pardine' would have been. Not sure why. If I'd written it, I confess it would probably have been 'pard-like'.

(And I believe you meant 'she might better have?!?)

I'm sorry, I meant that pardine is the accepted word for leopardlike (and I didn't take note of the author's gender and fell back on my habit (YART) of using the manly personal pronoun. ;)

The scientific name of the Spanish lynx is Felis lynx pardina. The villain in English mummers plays is sometimes called the "Black King of Pardine." The latter suggests a place name, no?

here's a whole list of "animalistic adjectives"

http://www.chameleon.net/deserthare/NameYourFurSelf.html

[try to ignore the lapine background :-Þ ]

A very useful list, tsuwm - from which I gather that several Buffaloes standing in a row might be described as "Side be Side Bisontine"

Another X-threader!
http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Board=words&Number=6085


If a nightingale is a kind of thrush, I'd much rather be likened to an owl than a nightingale, wouldn't (oo-wit-oo) you?

Fisk
Who, who, yes you! You would have to be a lady to be called a chouette (owl). Don't confuse the folks again. We've already got a few calling you Shona

<<here's a whole list of "animalistic adjectives"

http://www.chameleon.net/deserthare/NameYourFurSelf.html

[try to ignore the lapine background :-Þ ]>>

That is a great list!! But I just don't get the internet - who was so philanthropic (and time rich) as to put these things together?

"Side be Side Bisontine"

A Funny Thing Happened In This Forum...

Hey, John(john), it's nice to see you back!
Let me just try something:
http://www.chameleon.net/deserthare/NameYourFurSelf.html
Ah--quicker, I think. (You can do this, too, Dear--when you are making a post, go up to the top of the screen and click on the highlighted markup in your posts.
Usually, mine is blue. Today it is red.)


Here's something from the list: bombycine: silkworm.
I wonder if that's where the word bombazine came from.