volpe

Forms

volpe f (plural volpi, diminutive volpétta or volpìna or volpìno m or volpicèlla or volpicìno m, augmentative volpóna or volpóne m, diminutive-augmentative volpacchiòtta or volpacchiòtto, pejorative volpàccia, (always figurative) volponàccia or volponàccio m)^[1] Old variants are Old Italian vulpe, Old Italian bolpe, Old Italian vorpe and Old Italian gulpe.^[2] The Tuscan form is golpe, with /v/ turned to /g/ before a back vowel.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vulpēs (“fox”), in the accusative ⟨vulpem⟩ and the older ⟨volpem⟩.^[5][3][6][1] The ancients explained the name as “the one that flies with its feet” (⟨volat pedibus⟩), but the etymology is far less clear: the Indo-European languages have different names for the fox, and their gender varies.^[5] The word is Occitan volp, Sardinian gurpe, Romansh vuolp, Friulian bolp and Romanian vulpe.^[3][7] Other Romance languages replaced it, probably because of taboo and folk tales: French renard comes from the proper name Renard, and Spanish raposa means “the bushy-tailed one” and Spanish zorro “the lazy one”.^[3]

The older Latin form is volpēs, from Proto-Italic *wolpis.^[8][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *(H)ulp-i- “marten, cat or the like”, which also gave Lithuanian vilpišỹs (“wild cat”) and the Iranian words for “fox” and “marten”;^[8] Wiktionary gives the root as *h₂wl(o)p-.^[1] Ancient Greek ἀλώπηξ (alṓpēx) and Lithuanian lãpė are probably unrelated, according to de Vaan, and Nocentini calls such comparisons vague.^[8][3] Nocentini also thinks that the Latin word was drawn towards lupus (“wolf”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Proverbia que dicuntur, a Venetian poem of the late 12th century, where the fox is already the animal known for its cunning.^[2] DELI's first record of the animal is in the Novellino (late 13th century).^[5]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense of a cunning person goes back to Dante.^[5] Gabrielli quotes his line l'opere mie non furon leonine ma di volpe “my deeds were not a lion's but a fox's”.^[9] In Old Italian the fox was a symbol of malice and deceit and of heresy, and the word also named its skin and a skin disease like alopecia.^[2] A Siena customs statute of 1301–1303 taxes loads of fox and cat skins.^[5] Franco Sacchetti described the fox lying in a field as if dead to catch the birds that came to peck at it.^[10]

The augmentative volpone meant a person of great experience and cunning before 1405, earlier than its literal sense (before 1543).^[5] Volpino “of a fox” is recorded in the 14th century, and as the name of a small dog with a pointed muzzle from 1930.^[5] In the fur trade volpe replaced French renard in 1955.^[5] Specialised senses include a sloping prop in shipbuilding and an 18th-century navigation board marked with the 32 points of the compass.^[6][11]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur use volpe.^[2]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino names the animal.^[5]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses volpe for a cunning person.^[5]
• 1301–1303 – A Siena customs statute lists fox skins.^[5]
• 14th century – Volpino “of a fox” is recorded.^[5][3]
• Before 1405 – Volpone “old fox, cunning man” in Villani.^[5]
• Before 1606 – Volpe is used for bunt, a disease of wheat.^[6]
• 1782 – Pignotti writes volpacchiotta.^[5]
• 1930 – Volpino is recorded as the name of a dog.^[5]
• 1955 – Volpe replaces French renard for the fur.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) The fox: a slender animal with a pointed muzzle, large upright ears and a long bushy tail, feeding mainly on small mammals; in particular the red fox (Vulpes vulpes).^[6][12][13]
2. Volpe: the genus Vulpes of the dog family.^[6][4]
3. The fur of the fox: una sciarpa di volpe.^[6][4][11]
4. (figurative) A very cunning person: il suo avvocato è una volpe.^[6][13][11]
5. (nautical) A sloping prop that strengthens or supports a structure.^[6][13][4]
6. (nautical, historical) An 18th-century navigation instrument, a wooden board marked with the points of the compass.^[6][11]
7. (uncommon) Alopecia.^[6][13][11]
8. Volpe di mare or pesce volpe: the thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus).^[13][6]

Word family

• volpacchiotto
• volpino
• volpone
• volpeggiare
• volpicino
• volpaia
• volpesco
• involpire

Related words

• golpe
• Latin vulpes

Usage notes

Fare come la volpe con l'uva, after Aesop's fable, means to pretend to scorn something one cannot get.^[12][13][9] The proverb tutte le volpi al fine si rivedono in pellicceria says that the cunning end badly.^[11] GRADIT lists as a separate word a volpe meaning bunt, a fungal disease of wheat, recorded before 1606 and named after the fox from the look of the rotten ears or from the damage it does; its usual form is golpe.^{[6][14][15][5]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 999