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murine

murine

9.7
Relating to mice and rats
  • adjective
  • /ˈmjʊəraɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : murino
  • The murine family includes common species such as house mice and brown rats, both of which are found worldwide.

Examples

  • The scientist conducted experiments on murine models to study the effects of the new medication.

  • Researchers are examining murine behavior to better understand how parasites affect their health.

  • Studies of human and murine lung epithelial cells have demonstrated that cytokines can induce lung epithelial iNOS expression.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Inhibition of IL-21 or gene targeting of IL-21 mediates the suppression of a variety of models, including CIA and several murine lupus models.

    Blog text (17)

Synonyms

murid
vsmurine
  • Specialized
9.9

Relating to animals like mice or rats

is a general adjective for those animals without a taxonomic label
muroid
vsmurine
  • Specialized
9.9

Relating to small animals like mice or hamsters

is limited to animals of the Muridae family rather than the broader superfamily
murinus
vsmurine
  • Specialized
9.9

Having the shape and features of a mouse

covers relations to both mice and rats and the wider family, not just mice

Compounds

murine typhus
  • Specialized
9.9

An illness with fever and rash spread by fleas from rats or mice

Surface Forms

murine positive

Morphology

murine = mur (opaque) = mur + ine

There is no recognizable English base word for 'mur', so the derivation is opaque to learners.

Etymology

Murine comes from the Latin root muris ('mouse'). Think of it as 'mouse-like', which is why scientists call mouse antibodies and mouse models murine.