vixen

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈvɪk.sən/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, a southern dialect form of fixen,^[2][3][4][5] from Old English *fyxen, the feminine of fox.^{[6][2][3][4][5]} It is related to German Füchsin.^[2][3][5] Etymonline calls it the only surviving English example of the Germanic feminine suffix -en.^[3] The spelling with v- is found from the late 1500s.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A female fox (about 1150 as fixen;^[2] about 1410 in the OED).^[7]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense of an ill-tempered, quarrelsome woman appeared in the 1570s.^[3][7] Wiktionary also records a later sense, a sexually attractive woman.^[1]

Timeline

• about 1150 – fixen, a she-fox.^[2]
• about 1410 – a female fox.^[7]
• 1575 – a quarrelsome woman.^[7][3]
• late 1500s – the spelling vixen.^[2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A female fox.
2. A woman regarded as quarrelsome, ill-tempered or malicious; a shrew.
3. An attractive, alluring woman.

Word family

• vixenish
• vixenishly
• vixenishness

Related words

• fox

Usage notes

Random House gives shrew, scold, virago, harpy and termagant as synonyms.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press