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vulpe

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word vulpe

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1449 before 1449, Slavonic–Romanian documents More words from the 15th century
Inherited from
Latin vulpes
Ultimate origin
Latin vulpēs

Pronunciation

Forms

vulpe f (plural vulpi, masculine equivalent vulpoi)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vulpēs (“fox”).[2][3][4][5][1] The Latin word, earlier volpēs, goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂wl(o)p- (“(red) fox”).[1]

Ciorănescu gives the same form south of the Danube and in Istria: Aromanian vulpe and Istro-Romanian vulpe.[2][6] Its Romance cognates include Italian volpe, Occitan volp, Old French goupil and Spanish vulpeja.[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record dates from before 1449, in the Slavonic–Romanian documents.[3][8] In a Romanian text it first appears in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, in the early 16th century: parte vulpilor “a portion for the foxes” (Psalm 62); the Psaltirea Scheiană has vulponilor.[9][5]

Semantic evolution

Beside the animal and its fur, the word has long stood for cunning: Moxa's chronicle, quoted by Tiktin, tells of „o vulpe hitleană” “a crafty fox”, and the figurative sense “sly person” is in every modern dictionary.[8][4] Proverbs and idioms build on it: a tocmi vulpea din pădure “to bargain over something one doesn't have”, and when people take fright le intră vulpea în sac.[4][8]

Regional uses extend it further: the payment a groom from another village owes the young men of the bride's village, a grape variety with long bunches, and the smoke hole in the roof of a peasant house.[4] Compounds name other animals: vulpe-de-mare for the fish called vatos and vulpea-deșertului for the fennec.[4]

Timeline

  • before 1449 – the first record, in the Slavonic–Romanian documents.[3][8]
  • c. 1500-1520 – vulpilor “of the foxes” in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.[9]
  • 1570 – the same verse in Coresi's psalter.[9]
  • 1660 – vulpe glossing Slavonic лисица in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.[10]
  • 1688 – vulpile “the foxes” in the Bucharest Bible (Matthew 8:20).[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A fox: a wild carnivorous mammal the size of a dog, with reddish fur, a long bushy tail and pointed ears (Vulpes vulpes), and its fur;[4][3] vulpe argintie is the silver fox.[4][3]
  2. (figurative) A sly, cunning person.[4]
  3. (regional) A gift of money or wine that a groom from another village must give the young men of the bride's village.[4]
  4. A grape variety with long, loose bunches of sweet reddish berries.[4][2]
  5. (regional) A small opening in the roof of a peasant house through which smoke escapes.[4]

Word family

  • vulpenie
  • vulpesc
  • vulpește
  • vulpoi
  • vulpoaică
  • Aromanian vulpe
  • Latin vulpēs

Usage notes

The plural is vulpi; the male is vulpoi.[1] An older variant is hulpe.[4][3] The proverb vulpea când n-ajunge, zice că pute matches the fable of the sour grapes.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. vulpe
  3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1521
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1209
  5. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. vulpe
  6. ^ Byhan, Arthur (1899), Istrorumänisches Glossar, Sechster Jahresbericht des Instituts für rumänische Sprache zu Leipzig: 174–366, p. 386
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9464
  8. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. vúlpe
  9. ^ a b c Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 62:9
  10. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. vulpe
  11. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Mt 8:20

Related etymologies

  • apă · also from Latin
  • bun · also from Latin
  • unde · also from Latin
  • veni · also from Latin
  • noi · also from Latin
  • bine · also from Latin
  • un · also from Latin
  • și · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Vulpe.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/vulpe. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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