goupil

Meaning

fox

Gender

♂️ Masculine

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡu.pil/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French goupil, from Old French gupil, golpil, gulpil, vorpil, volpil, from Vulgar Latin *vulpīculus, alteration of Latin vulpēcula (“fox kit”), diminutive of vulpēs. Compare goupille. See also Old Italian volpiglio, Occitan volpìlh, Catalan volpell, Portuguese golpelha, Spanish vulpeja.
The initial g- suggests influence from a Germanic word in w-, most likely Frankish *wulf (“wolf”). Compare gui and gaine with the same Frankish influence on a Latin-derived word.
Replaced by renard, by euphemism.