lupine

1 of 2

noun

lu·​pine ˈlü-pən How to pronounce lupine (audio)
variants or less commonly lupin
: any of a genus (Lupinus) of leguminous herbs including some poisonous forms and others cultivated for their long showy racemes of usually blue, purple, white, or yellow flowers or for green manure, fodder, or their edible seeds
also : an edible lupine seed

lupine

2 of 2

adjective

lu·​pine ˈlü-ˌpīn How to pronounce lupine (audio)

Did you know?

Lupine comes from lupus, Latin for "wolf", and its related adjective lupinus, "wolfish". Lupine groups have a highly organized social structure, with leaders and followers clearly distinguished; dogs, since they're descended from wolves, often show these lupine patterns when living in groups. Stories of children raised by wolves (the most famous being Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome) have generally been hard to prove, partly because "wild" children lack human language abilities and can't describe their experiences. Lupine is also a noun, the name of a well-known garden flower, which was once thought to drain, or "wolf", the soil of its nutrients.

Examples of lupine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The monument trails are lush with native plants and trees (lupine, manzanita, black sage, monkey flower) and populated by wildlife (bobcat, coyote, deer, wild pigs, sheep and the rare mountain lion). Sam McManis, Sacramento Bee, 31 Jan. 2024 While the irises are the stars of the show, they’re all set against a backdrop of other beautiful perennials like lupine, allium, poppies, and delphinium. Elizabeth Brownfield, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Bluebonnets come from a few species of lupines that include the Texas bluebonnet, Lupinus texensis, sandyland bluebonnet, Lupinus subcarnosus, and the Big Bend bluebonnet, Lupinus havardii. David Montesino, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Feb. 2024 Look carefully for swaths of wild lupine, glowing purple and majestic. Chelsee Lowe, Travel + Leisure, 29 Mar. 2023 Poppies and lupines grow on the banks above the water. Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 24 Feb. 2024 The grassy fields around the tower filled with grape soda lupine flowers, and the large, white blooms of Jimson weed dotted the forest floor. Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2023 Choose from a number of colors, including dew and lupine. Amy Schulman, Peoplemag, 8 Dec. 2023 But on a recent Thursday, after drenching rains in Los Angeles, the grass was a rich green and purple lupine lined the path. Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2023
Adjective
Its cover recalls a vintage GeoCities website: black background, underlined gold text, thumbnail-sized etching of a woman and her lupine companion. Amanda Hess, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2019 Every few months an Italian landowner, angry at having lost livestock to lupine jaws, will shoot a wolf and dump its corpse by the roadside – sometimes mutilated or decapitated – in protest against government policy. Nick Squires, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Sep. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lupine.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin lupinus, lupinum, from lupinus, adjective

Adjective

Latin lupinus, from lupus wolf — more at wolf

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1660, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of lupine was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near lupine

Cite this Entry

“Lupine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lupine. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

lupine

noun
lu·​pine
variants also lupin
ˈlü-pən
: any of a genus of herbs of the legume family including some poisonous ones and others grown for their showy spikes of colorful flowers or for green manure, fodder, or their edible seeds

Medical Definition

lupine

noun
lu·​pine
variants also lupin
: any of a genus (Lupinus) of leguminous herbs some of which cause lupinosis and others are cultivated for green manure, fodder, or their edible seeds
also : an edible lupine seed

More from Merriam-Webster on lupine

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