rangiferineadj.

Etymology: < scientific Latin Rangifer, genus name ( C. H. Smith in E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom (1827) V. 304; < post-classical Latin rangifer reindeer (1555), of uncertain origin: see below) + -ine suffix¹. Compare scientific Latin Rangiferinae, former subfamily name ( R. I. Pocock, 1923 ), and Rangiferini, tribe name ( G. G. Simpson, 1945 ). Compare French †rangifère (18th cent.).The following is the earliest example of post-classical Latin rangifer , giving a puzzling reference to the motivation of the name:1555 O. Magnus Historia Septentrionalibus xvii. xxvi. 595 Bestia tricornis est, de genere ceruorum, sed longē procerior, robustior, ac velocior, Rangifer duplici ratione dicta.‘It is a three-horned beast, a kind of deer, but much taller, stronger, and faster, called Rangifer for a twofold reason.’ The second element is apparently -fer -fer comb. form, although the word may perhaps show a remodelling of Middle French rangier (see rangerine adj.).