vulpine

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English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vulpīnus (“foxy, fox-like”), from vulpēs, earlier volpēs (“fox”), from Proto-Indo-European *wl(o)p- (“fox”). Cognate with Welsh llywarn (“fox”), Ancient Greek ἀλώπηξ (alṓpēx), Armenian աղուէս (aġuēs), Albanian dhelpër, Lithuanian vilpišỹs (“wildcat”), Sanskrit लोपाश (lopāśa, “jackal, fox”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈvʌlpaɪn/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌlpaɪn

Adjective

vulpine (comparative more vulpine, superlative most vulpine)

  1. Pertaining to a fox.
    • 1910, Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “The Bag”, in Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches, London: Methuen & Co. , →OCLC, page 80:
      She dared not raise her eyes above the level of the tea-table, and she almost expected to see a spot of accusing vulpine blood drip down and stain the whiteness of the cloth.
  2. Having the characteristics of a fox; foxlike; cunning.

Translations

Noun

vulpine (plural vulpines)

  1. Any of certain canids called foxes (including true foxes, arctic foxes and grey foxes), distinguished from canines, which are regarded as similar to dogs and wolves.
    • 1980, Michael Wilson Fox, The Soul of the Wolf, unnumbered page:
      The family Canidae consists of two main subgroups, the vulpines (foxes) and the canines (wolves, coyotes, jackals, and dogs), and some intermediate “fox-dog” forms from South America.
  2. A person considered cunning.

See also

Anagrams

French

Adjective

vulpine

  1. feminine singular of vulpin

Latin

Adjective

vulpīne

  1. vocative masculine singular of vulpīnus
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