Etymograph

English

fops

Fops comes from Middle English fox ‘a fox, especially the red fox’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*púḱsos1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuhsaz1‘fox’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150fox1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fox1‘a fox, especially the red fox’
  5. English1500–presentfox1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2013fops1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fops
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, @touchtheboop: “Knife set, Hoover, soaps, leatherman, lego and....... FOPS KIGU!…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*púḱsosWiktionary, English fopsreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuhsazWiktionary, English fops‘fox’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150foxWiktionary, English fops
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foxWiktionary, English fops‘a fox, especially the red fox’
  5. English1500–presentfoxWiktionary, English fops
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2013fopsWiktionary, English fops. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, @touchtheboop: “Knife set, Hoover, soaps, leatherman, lego and....... FOPS KIGU!…”

Linked words

through Middle English fox ‘a fox, especially the red fox’

fox

Today it means

noun A fox.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fops”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos / fops

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