goupil

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.

• IPA^(key): /ɡu.pil/, /ɡu.pi/

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goupil m (plural goupils)

1. (archaic) fox

   Synonym: renard

• “goupil”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.