Berkshiren.
/ˈbɑːkʃə/, /ˈbɑːkʃɪə/, U.S. /ˈbərkˌʃɪ(ə)r/, /ˈbərkʃər/ I. Compounds.
1. attributive. Designating a breed of large pig having a mainly black coat with white feet, developed in Berkshire in the 18th cent.
ΚΠ
1761 J. Mordant Compl. Steward I. 16 This sort are mostly red, and red spotted with black, and in Northamptonshire, &c. are called the Berkshire breed.
1811 R. Henderson Treat. Breeding Swine i. 13 The Berkshire pig, is generally allowed to be a good kind.
1855 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 941/2 The Berkshire breed of pigs has probably been the best known, and had in the highest estimation of any of our British breeds.
1939 Life 10 Apr. 83 Most Berkshire pigs have far longer and better pedigrees than their owners.
2003 J. McGlone & W. Pond Pig Production ii. vi. 76 The Berkshire breed has been associated with greater pork quality by some pork buyers.
II. Simple uses.
2. The Berkshire breed of pig; a pig of this breed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > pig > [noun] > specific breeds
purr?1577
Hampshirea1661
Shropshire1768
tun-back1776
Berkshire1810
Suffolk1831
China hog1838
Essex pig1838
Narragansett1852
Cumberland1860
Neapolitan1860
Tamworth1860
hazel splitter1866
Poland China1869
Duroc1872
Large Black1906
Lincolnshire Curly-Coat1917
saddleback1919
landrace1935
micropig1985
1810 W. Davies Gen. View Agric. N. Wales xiii. §4. 344 The original Welsh breed.., by a cross with the Berkshires, produced the slouch-eared hogs, which were lately general throughout the country.
1860 S. Sidney Youatt's Pig (ed. 2) iii. 34 The cross of the Berkshire with the Tamworth produces the most profitable bacon pigs in the kingdom.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 195/1 The Berkshire, though a black pig, usually has a white blaze or mark down the face, a white tip to the tail, and feet white up to the ankle joint.
2009 J. Struthers Red Sky at Night 26 Today's Berkshire has black skin, white socks and pricked-up ears.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1761