vulpes

See also: Vulpes

Latin

vulpēs (a fox)

Alternative forms

• volpēs
• vulpis (late, proscribed)

Etymology

From earlier volpēs, from Proto-Italic *wolpis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wl(o)p- ~ *h₂ulp- (“(red) fox”) (compare Sanskrit लोपाश (lopāśá), Breton louarn, Lithuanian lãpė, Ancient Greek ἀλώπηξ (alṓpēx), Persian روباه (rubâh)). Possibly a conflation with earlier words for "wolf"; see wĺ̥kʷos.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯ul.peːs/, [ˈu̯ʊɫ̪peːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈvul.pes/, [ˈvulpes]

Noun

vulpēs f (genitive vulpis); third declension

1. a fox, vixen
2. (figuratively) smartness, strategy, quick thinking, adaptability, craftiness, cunning, cleverness, wisdom
3. a kind of shark

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vulpēs	vulpēs
Genitive	vulpis	vulpium
Dative	vulpī	vulpibus
Accusative	vulpem	vulpēs vulpīs
Ablative	vulpe	vulpibus
Vocative	vulpēs	vulpēs

Derived terms

• vulpiō
• vulpēcula f (“little fox”)
• vulpēs marīna
• vulpīnor
• vulpīnus (“fox, vulpine”, adjective)

 

Descendants

• Aromanian: vulpi, vulpe
• Catalan: volp
• Corsican: volpe, vorpe, volpi, vulpi
• Dalmatian: bualp, vualp
• Friulian: bolp, volp
• Galician: golpe, volpe
• Istriot: bulpo
• Istro-Romanian: vulpe
• Italian: volpe
• Ladin: volp, bolp
• Neapolitan: vorpe
• Occitan: volp
• Piedmontese: vulp
• Romanian: vulpe, hulpe
• Romansch: vulp, uolp; vualp, gualp; golp; vuolp
• Sicilian: vurpi, gurpi; vulpi, gulpi
  • → Maltese: gilpa (from the form gulpi)
• Venetian: volp, bolpe, bolp
• → Esperanto: vulpo
• → Translingual: Vulpes

References

• “vulpes”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• vulpes in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• vulpes in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.