vulpes

See also: Vulpes

Latin

vulpēs (a fox)

Alternative forms

volpēs, vulpis

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 ‎ (rubâh)). Possibly a conflation with earlier words for "wolf"; see wĺ̥kʷos.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯ul.peːs/, [ˈu̯ʊɫ̪peːs̠]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈvul.pes/, [ˈvulpes]
Audio (Classical) (file)

Noun

vulpēs f (genitive vulpis); third declension

a fox, vixen
(figuratively) smartness, strategy, quick thinking, adaptability, craftiness, cunning, cleverness, wisdom
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

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

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
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