raposa

See also: Raposa, rapôsa, and răposa

Galician

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese raposa, borrowed from Old Spanish raposa, from raposo + -a. Compare Portuguese and Spanish raposa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raˈposa/ [raˈpo.s̺ɐ]
• Rhymes: -osa
• Hyphenation: ra‧po‧so

Noun

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

1. vixen (animal)

Old Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

• rraposa

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Spanish raposa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raˈpoza/
• Rhymes: -oza
• Hyphenation: ra‧po‧sa

Noun

raposa f (plural raposas)

1. fox
   • 1439, X. Ferro Couselo, editor, A vida e a fala dos devanceiros, Vigo: Galaxia, page 420:

     da pelica da marta, hua branca, et da lontra, dous diñeiros, et da raposa, hun diñeiro

     a marten pelt, a branca [coin]; and of otter, two diñeiros; and of fox, a diñeiro

Derived terms

• raposeyra
• raposia
• Raposo

Descendants

• Fala: raposa
• Galician: raposa
• Portuguese: raposa

References

• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “raposa”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2020–2026), “raposa”, in Vocabulário histórico-cronológico do português medieval [Historical and chronological vocabulary of Medieval Portuguese] (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa

Old Spanish

Alternative forms

• rabosa, rapossa, rraposa, rrapossa

Etymology

From raposo +‎ -a.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raˈpoza/
• Rhymes: -oza
• Hyphenation: ra‧po‧sa

Noun

raposa f (plural raposas)

1. female equivalent of raposo: vixen (female fox)

Descendants

• Spanish: raposa
• → Old Galician-Portuguese: raposa, rraposa
  • Fala: raposa
  • Galician: raposa
  • Portuguese: raposa

References

• Ralph Steele Boggs et al. (1946), “raposa”, in Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, volume II, Chapel Hill, page 426

Portuguese

raposa

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese raposa, from Old Spanish raposa.

Alternative forms

• rapôsa (pre-reform spelling)

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/

• Rhymes: -ozɐ
• 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, dialectal) opossum (any American marsupial of the family Didelphidae)
4. (Brazil, dialectal, strictly) female opossum
5. (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

• casamento de raposa
• raposa no galinheiro
• raposa-cinzenta
• raposa-do-ártico
• raposa-do-cabo
• raposa-vermelha
• raposada
• raposo

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁaˈpɔ.zɐ/ [haˈpɔ.zɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁaˈpɔ.zɐ/ [haˈpɔ.zɐ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁaˈpɔ.zɐ/ [χaˈpɔ.zɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁaˈpɔ.za/ [haˈpɔ.za]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɐˈpɔ.zɐ/

• Rhymes: -ɔzɐ
• Hyphenation: ra‧po‧sa

Verb

raposa

1. inflection of raposar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “raposa”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “raposa”, in Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisboa: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 2001–2026
• “raposa”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: 7Graus, 2009–2026
• “raposa”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “raposa”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “raposa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish raposa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raˈposa/ [raˈpo.sa]
• Rhymes: -osa
• Syllabification: ra‧po‧sa

Noun

raposa f (plural raposas)

1. female equivalent of raposo: vixen (female fox)

   Synonyms: zorra, vulpeja

Further reading

• “raposo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025