fox English · revision 4010

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 825|origins=ine-pro *puk-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /fɒks/, US /fɑːks/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|fox]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*fuhsaz|t=fox]],^(Etymonline) the source also of Old Saxon vohs, Dutch vos, German Fuchs, Old Norse fóa and Gothic fauho,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*puk-|t=tail]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the source also of Sanskrit púccha- “tail”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The name may mean “the tailed one”,^(Hoad 1986) and Barnhart suggests taboo may have been involved.^(Barnhart 1988) The bushy tail also inspired the words for “fox” in Welsh (llwynog) and Spanish (raposa).^(Etymonline) It is related to [[vixen]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The animal: about 825 in the OED,^(OED 1989) before 830 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The metaphor of a clever, crafty person is from late Old English.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A fox-tail was anciently one of the badges of a fool (late 14th century),^(Etymonline) and the fur of the fox is from 1501.^(OED 1989) The verb “to delude” is from the 1660s,^(Etymonline) with Old English foxung “craftiness” implying the notion,^(Etymonline) and Barnhart has foxing, “clever deceit”, before 1250;^(Barnhart 1988) the participle ''foxed'' meant “drunk” from the 1610s^(Etymonline) and, in booksellers' catalogues, “stained with rusty marks” by 1827.^(Etymonline) An attractive woman is from the 1940s in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and 1963 in the OED, as American slang,^(OED 1989) though ''foxy'' in this sense is from 1895.^(Etymonline) Oscar Wilde called fox-hunting “the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable”.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 825 – the animal.^(OED 1989)

+ * late Old English – a crafty person.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1501 – fox fur.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610s – ''foxed'', drunk.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1660s – verb, to delude.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1827 – ''foxed'', of books.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1940s – an attractive woman.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A carnivorous mammal related to the dog, with upright ears, a pointed snout and a long bushy tail.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The fur of a fox.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A crafty, sly or clever person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(slang)'' A sexually attractive woman.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''Fox'', a member of an Algonquian people living with the Sauk.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To trick by cunning; to [[outwit]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To baffle or confuse.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[foxlike]]

+ * [[foxed]]

+ * [[foxing]]

+ * [[outfox]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vixen]]

+ * [[foxy]]

+ * [[foxglove]]

+ * [[foxhole]]

+ * [[foxtrot]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The name of the Fox people translates French Renards, perhaps itself a translation of an Iroquoian term; they call themselves “red earths”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}