vulpes

See also: Vulpes

Latin

vulpēs (a fox)

Alternative forms

• volpēs
• vulpis (late, proscribed)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂wl̥p-i-s

Proto-Italic *wolpis

Latin volpēs

Latin vulpēs

From earlier volpēs, from Proto-Italic *wolpis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wl̥p-i-s (“marten, cat”). (compare Sanskrit लोपाश (lopāśá), Breton louarn, Lithuanian lãpė, Ancient Greek ἀλώπηξ (alṓpēx), Persian روباه (rubâh)), with an analogous gender change. Possibly a conflation with earlier words for "wolf"; see wĺ̥kʷos.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈwʊɫ.peːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈvul.pes]

Noun

vulpēs f (genitive vulpis); third declension

1. a fox, vixen
2. (figuratively) smartness, strategy, quick thinking, adaptability, craftiness, cunning, cleverness, wisdom
3. a kind of shark

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

	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
• Emilian: våulp
• Friulian: bolp, volp
• Galician: golpe, volpe
• Istriot: bulpo
• Istro-Romanian: vulpe
• Italian: volpe
• Ladin: volp, bolp
• Neapolitan: vorpe
• Occitan: volp
• Piedmontese: vulp
• Romanian: vulpe, hulpe, вулпе (vulpe) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling
• Romansh: vulp, uolp (Sursilvan), vualp, gualp (Sutsilvan), golp (Surmiran), vuolp (Puter, Vallader)
• Sicilian: vurpi, gurpi, vulpi, gulpi
  • → Maltese: gilpa (from the form gulpi)
• Venetan: 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, 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.