vixen

vixen · noun¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fuhsinī
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fuhsini
3. Old English · inherited from*fyxen
4. Middle English · inherited fromfixen
5. English todayvixen

Alteration of earlier fixen, from Middle English fixen, fixene, from Old English *fyxen (compare also Old English fyxe (“female fox”)), from Proto-West Germanic *fuhsini, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsinī; the voiced v- comes from the Southern dialectal forms of Middle English. Alternatively, from the Old English adjective fyxen (“of the fox”), as in the phrase fixen hȳd (“fox skin”; compare Middle English foxen fox).

Vixen · proper noun²

First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. From vixen.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from late 16ᵗʰ c. A malicious, quarrelsome or temperamental woman.