Forming adjectives, representing Latin -īnus, -īna, -īnum, added to names of persons, animals, or material things, and to some other words, with the sense ‘of’ or ‘pertaining to’, ‘of the nature of’, represented in French by -in masculine, -ine feminine, in English now usually by -ine, formerly and still exceptionally by -in. Examples are Latin adulterīnus adulterine, anserīnus anserine, asinīnus asinine, canīnus canine, dīvīnus divine, fēminīnus feminine, genuīnus genuine, lībertīnus libertine, marīnus marine, masculīnus masculine, supīnus supine; in some cases with blending of a previous suffix, as clandestīnus clandestine, intestīnus intestine, mātūtīnus matutine, vespertīnus vespertine. Also from proper names, as Alpīnus Alpine, Capitōlīnus Capitoline, Latīnus Latin (formerly Latine), Sāturnīnus Saturnine, Tarentīnus Tarentine. On the pattern of these, adjectives have continued to be freely formed in the Romanic languages and in English, as in Algerine, Caroline, Florentine, Socotrine. The termination is widely used in natural history and zoology in forming adjectives, with or without a Latin model, on the names of genera, as acarine, accipitrine, bovine, caprine, equine, feline, hystricine, murine, passerine, viverrine; in later use many are modelled on scientific Latin group names (based on the names of genera) with the plural ending -ina (neuter plural, originally with Latin animalia understood) or -inae (feminine plural, originally with Latin bestiae understood; later as a formal taxonomic ending for subfamily names, after the pattern of -idae used for family names), as gadine, lambeosaurine, mastodontine, milleporine, paradoxurine, pythonine. In these natural history adjectives the pronunciation is , , usually unstressed; but in other words it is very various, depending upon the length of time the word has been in English, the channel through which it came, the place of the stress, and other circumstances: cf. divine adj., supine adj. , , marine , , feminine, genuine , , aquiline, bovine, leonine, alkaline , , and see the history of the individual words.

Forming adjectives, representing Latin -ĭnus, < Greek -ινος, from names of minerals, plants, etc., or (in a few words) of Latin origin, having, in Romanic and English, the same sense and the same forms, as -ine suffix¹; as adamantin-us adamantine, amethystinus amethystine, corallinus coralline, crystallinus crystalline, hyacinthinus hyacinthine, pristinus pristine. The etymological and historical pronunciation was /ɪn/, e.g. /ˈprɪstɪn/, /ædəˈmæntɪn/; but, from the spelling -ine, and the attraction of words in -ine suffix¹, there is now a strong tendency to lengthen the i in crystalline , , etc.

Forming nouns, representing French -ine, Latin -īna, Greek -ῑνη, forming feminine titles, as in Greek ἡρωίνη, Latin hērōīna, French héroine heroine. With this the German landgräfin, markgräfin, Dutch landgravin, markgravin (the suffix of which is originally the same as -en suffix²), have fallen together in French and in English, as landgravine, margravine.

Forming nouns, representing French -ine (-in), Latin -īna (-īnus), in origin identical with -ine suffix¹. In Latin, -īna formed feminine abstract nouns from verbs, as rapīna rapine, ruīna ruin, and from agent-nouns, as disciplīna discipline, doctrīna doctrine, medicīna medicine; also nouns from other sources, as fascīna fascine, resīna resin, ūrīna urine. The adjectives in -īnus, -īna were also used substantively, as in concubīnus, -īna concubine, lupīnus lupine, and esp. in proper names, as Antōnīnus Antonine, Augustīnus Augustine, Constāntīnus Constantine, Crispīnus Crispin, Justīnus Justin, Agrippīna, Constāntīna, etc. The English form of those in -īna (through French, or on the French type) is -ine, occasionally in early words reduced to -in; those in -īnus give French and English -in, but in English often -ine.Formations of this type were multiplied in late Latin and Romanic, e.g. famīna famine, French routine; in Romanic this suffix (Italian, Spanish -ino, -ina, French -in, -ine) is greatly used in forming names of derived substances, similative appellations, diminutives, etc. Many of these have come into English, in the French form -ine /ˈiːn/, which has consequently become a formative element, freely used in forming the names of derivative products, and of things supposed to be derived from, resemble, imitate, or commemorate those from which they are named, and thus in the trade-names of new varieties of fabrics, cosmetics, patent medicines, and proprietary articles generally, e.g. dentine, osseine, nectarine, brilliantine, grenadine, albertine, victorine, etc. Feminine personal names of Romanic origin in -ina sometimes retain that form, but often take -ine ( , or , ) after French, as Caroline (now , ), Catherine, Ernestine, Josephine.