- canine (n.)
- "pointed tooth," late 14c., from Latin caninus "of the dog," genitive of canis "dog" (source of Italian cane, French chien), from PIE root *kwon- "dog" (source also of Greek kyon, Old English hund, Old High German hunt, Old Irish cu, Welsh ci, Sanskrit svan-, Avestan spa, Russian sobaka (apparently from an Iranian source, such as Median spaka), Armenian shun, Lithuanian šuo). The noun meaning "dog" is first recorded 1869.
- canine (adj.)
- c. 1600, of teeth, from canine (n.) or Latin caninus. Meaning "pertaining to a dog or dogs" is from 1620s.
