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PlainSpell

canine

ca·nineUK /ˈkeɪnaɪn/adjective, noun

canine is spelled C-A-N-I-N-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (ca·nine). It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, canine means “Of, or pertaining to, a dog or dogs” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in canine?

Letters6: C-A-N-I-N-E
Syllables2: ca·nine
In writing2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is canine?

Canine appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce canine?

  • UK /ˈkeɪnaɪn/
  • UK /ˈkænaɪn/
  • UK /kəˈnaɪn/

Canine has 2 syllables, split ca·nine in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-canine.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-canine.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with canine

Sounds like: K9 (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with canine?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as canine (/eɪnaɪn/).

Spelled with the same letters in another order: encina.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of canine

  • canines plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does canine mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Of, or pertaining to, a dog or dogs.

  2. 2

    Dog-like.

  3. 3

    Of or pertaining to mammalian teeth which are cuspids or fangs.

  4. 4

    obsoleteOf an appetite: depraved or inordinate; used to describe eating disorders.

noun

  1. 1

    Any member of Caninae, the only living subfamily of Canidae.

  2. 2

    Any of certain extant canids regarded as similar to the dog or wolf (including coyotes, jackals, etc.) but distinguished from the vulpines, which are regarded as fox-like.

  3. 3

    Synonym of cuspid, the pointed tooth between the incisors and premolars in heterodont mammals.

  4. 4

    slangA king and a nine as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em due to phonetic similarity.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Canine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcanin (pertaining to dogs)
GermanHunde-, Hunds-, hundeartig (pertaining to dogs), hündisch (dog-like)
Portuguesecanino, canina, caninos, caninas (pertaining to dogs)
Spanishcanino (pertaining to dogs), perruno (dog-like)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does canine come from?

From Latin canīnus (“of dogs, doglike, dogtooth”), from canis (“dog”). Compare French canin.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after canine