vulpiform

English

vulpiform Moche ceramic vessel

Etymology

vulp +‎ -iform

Adjective

vulpiform (comparative more vulpiform, superlative most vulpiform)

1. Having the shape of a fox.
   • 1858 May 15, Spirit of the Times ; A Chronicle of the Turn, Agriculture, Field Sports, and the Stage, volume 28, number 14, page 161:

     The flying fox (vespertillo vulpicephalus) […] The facial features of this animal are vulpiform, and ferocity is signified by the punishment which it inflicts with its dental armory (for the teeth of this extraordinary-formed creature are of the canine character).

   • 1992 December 30, Clive Grace's profile photo Clive Grace, alt.callahans‎^[1] (Usenet):

     He's a reddish human sized fox (vulpiform), on hind feet, bushy tail -- he wears a grey trenchcoat and a brown satchel is strapped around his shoulder […]

   • 2004, Michael Bathgate, The Fox's Craft in Japanese Religion and Culture: Shapeshifters, Transformations and Duplicities‎^[2], page 476:

     […] is Inari the spirit of rice (as suggested in the earliest records of Inari as ujigami of the Hata clan), or is it a wish-fulfilling vulpiform divinity, comparable to the Buddhist-style Kiko tennō venerated by Taira no Kiyomori in his rise to political power?