Etymograph

English

fox

Fox comes from Middle English fox, from Old English fox, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz ‘fox’, from Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos ‘the tailed one’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*púḱsos1‘the tailed one’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuhsaz1‘fox’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fuhs1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fox1‘fox’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fox1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1599fox1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fox
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “Thou diest on point of fox.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*púḱsosWiktionary, English fox‘the tailed one’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuhsazWiktionary, English fox‘fox’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fuhsWiktionary, English foxreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150foxWiktionary, English fox‘fox’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foxWiktionary, English fox
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1599foxWiktionary, English fox. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “Thou diest on point of fox.”

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Today it means

noun A small-to-medium-sized canine mammal, related to dogs and wolves, with a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail, of the following groups: Any member of the genus Vulpes; a true fox.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fox”. 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 / fox