Etymology The adjective is borrowed from Late Latin ovīnus (“ovine”) + English -ine (suffix with the sense ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). Ovīnus is derived from Latin ovis (“sheep”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis (“sheep”), possibly from *h₂ew- (“to clothe oneself, dress; to be dressed”) in the sense of something that provides woollen clothing) + -īnus (suffix with the sense ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, ove- + -ine. The noun is derived from the adjective.
1
Of, being, pertaining to, or resembling a sheep; also, (not comparable) of an animal: from the genus Ovis.
[…] Dr. [Mauro] Legni reported to him a month afterward that the ovination had been successful, and that no marked differences had been observable between the vesicles produced by the ovine and those produced by the vaccine lymph. Dr. Legni added, that he had continued to propagate the ovine lymph on children.1868, Edward C[ator] Seaton, “Of Pocks in Other Animals which have been Considered Analogous to Cow-pox and Horse-pox”, in A Handbook of Vaccination, Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott & Co., →OCLC, paragraph 19 (Ovination of the Human Subject), page 46:
Satyr was a gleam of classical memory on the part of Moreau,—his face ovine in expression, like the coarser Hebrew type; his voice a harsh bleat1896, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 16, in The Island of Doctor Moreau (Heinemann’s Colonial Library of Popular Fiction; 52), London: William Heinemann, →OCLC; republished as The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Possibility, New York, N.Y.: Stone & Kimball, 1896, →OCLC:
2 more examples
Thus, in general, cattle sperm are reasonably robust, but sheep much less so. Antelope, evolutionarily speaking, are somewhere between cattle and sheep: some are cattle-like, and some are more ovine.1992, Colin Tudge, “The Frozen Zoo?”, in Last Animals at the Zoo: How Mass Extinction Can be Stopped, Washington, D.C.; Covelo, Calif.: Island Press, →ISBN, page 175:
Ovine meat currently averages 25% of meat production in these countries, but over the projections period, the strongest production gains are expected in the poultry meat sector, contributing 41% to their meat output gains.2005, “Meat”, in OECD–FAO Agricultural Outlook 2005–2014, Paris: OECD Publishing; Food and Agriculture Organization, →ISBN, page 77:
2
Figuratively Resembling a sheep in character; acquiescent, easily influenced, passive, or willing to follow a leader blindly.
The Patient from being Maniacl, or raging mad, became vvholly Ovine or Sheepiſh; he bleated perpetually, and chevv'd the Cud: […]1676, Thomas Shadwell, The Virtuoso. A Comedy, […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, Act II, page 30:
At present, municipal councillors play at party politics by organizing the ovine members who do not know how to vote until a Party Whip tells them, and opposing independent candidates at the elections.1944, [George] Bernard Shaw, “Political Summary”, in Everybody’s Political What’s What?, London: Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 353:
Etymology The adjective is borrowed from Late Latin ovīnus (“ovine”) + English -ine (suffix with the sense ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). Ovīnus is derived from Latin ovis (“sheep”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis (“sheep”), possibly from *h₂ew- (“to clothe oneself, dress; to be dressed”) in the sense of something that provides woollen clothing) + -īnus (suffix with the sense ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, ove- + -ine. The noun is derived from the adjective.
1
An animal from the genus Ovis; a sheep.
2
Figuratively A person regarded as resembling a sheep in character; one who is acquiescent, easily influenced, passive, or willing to follow a leader blindly; a sheep.
At present, municipal councillors play at party politics by organizing the ovine members who do not know how to vote until a Party Whip tells them, and opposing independent candidates at the elections. The remedy for this is the exclusion of ovines from the municipal panel.1944, [George] Bernard Shaw, “Political Summary”, in Everybody’s Political What’s What?, London: Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 353: