vulpine

Borrowed from Latin vulpīnus (“foxy, fox-like”), from vulpēs, earlier volpēs (“fox”), from Proto-Indo-European *wl(o)p- (“fox”). Cognate with Welsh llywarn (“fox”), Ancient Greek ἀλώπηξ (alṓpēx), Armenian աղուէս (ałuēs), Albanian dhelpër, Lithuanian vilpišỹs (“wildcat”), Sanskrit लोपाश (lopāśa, “jackal, fox”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈvʌlpaɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

vulpine (comparative more vulpine, superlative most vulpine)

1. Pertaining to a fox.
   • 1910, Saki, ‘The Bag’, Reginald in Russia:

     She dared not raise her eyes above the level of the tea-table, and she almost expected to see a spot of accusing vulpine blood drip down and stain the whiteness of the cloth.

2. Having the characteristics of a fox, foxlike; cunning.

vulpine (plural vulpines)

1. Any of certain canids called foxes (including the true foxes, the arctic fox and the grey fox); distinguished from the canines, which are regarded as similar to the dog and wolf.
   • 1980, Michael Wilson Fox, The Soul of the Wolf, unnumbered page,

     The family Canidae consists of two main subgroups, the vulpines (foxes) and the canines (wolves, coyotes, jackals, and dogs), and some intermediate “fox-dog” forms from South America.

2. A person considered vulpine (cunning); a fox.

• canine
• lupine
• Vulpini (tribe within subfamily Caninae)

• liven up

vulpine

1. feminine singular of vulpin

vulpīne

1. vocative masculine singular of vulpīnus