From earlier volpēs, from Proto-Italic *wolpis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wl(o)p- ~ *h₂ulp- (“(red) fox”) (compare Sanskrit लोपाश (lopāśá), Breton louarn, Lithuanian lãpė, Ancient Greek ἀλώπηξ (alṓpēx), Persian روباه (rubâh)), with an analogous gender change. Possibly a conflation with earlier words for "wolf"; see wĺ̥kʷos.