raposa

See also: Raposa, rapôsa, and răposa

Galician

Etymology

See raposo. Compare Portuguese raposa, Spanish raposa.

Noun

raposa f (plural raposas)

1. vixen (animal)

Related terms

• raposo

---

Portuguese

raposa

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish raposa (“fox”), probably from rabo (“tail”), from Latin rāpum (“turnip”) + -ōsus, and influenced by descendants of rapiō (“snatch, grab”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁaˈpo.zɐ/ [haˈpo.zɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁaˈpo.zɐ/ [haˈpo.zɐ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁaˈpo.zɐ/ [χaˈpo.zɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁaˈpo.za/ [haˈpo.za]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɐˈpo.zɐ/

• Hyphenation: ra‧po‧sa

Noun

raposa f (plural raposas)

1. fox (both the "true foxes" of the Old World and North America, and the "false foxes" of Latin America)
   • 2015, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, O Pequeno Príncipe, Pelekanos Books →ISBN

     – Os homens, disse a raposa, têm fuzis e caçam. É bem incômodo!

     “The men”, said the fox, “have rifles and they hunt. It’s quite bothersome!”

2. (specifically) vixen (female fox)
3. (Brazil, regional) oposum (any American marsupial of the family Didelphidae)
4. (usually derogatory) fox (a sly or cunning person)

Usage notes

Raposa is one of the few feminines that are used by default (when the referent’s sex is unknown or irrelevant).

Synonyms

• (fox): golpelha
• (opossum): gambá

Derived terms

• raposo
• casamento de raposa

Further reading

• “raposa”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), Porto: 7Graus, 2009–2024
• “raposa”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024

---

Spanish

Etymology

See raposo.

Noun

raposa f (plural raposas, masculine raposo, masculine plural raposos)

1. female equivalent of raposo; vixen

   Synonyms: zorra, vulpeja