Meanings
firefox1
firefox2
plural firefoxes
- A mythical creature in Finnish folklore, a fox with fiery or radiant fur, the reflection of which produces the northern lights.
Firefox3
- computingA free, open-source, cross-platform, graphical web browser, developed by the Mozilla Foundation.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
firefox · noun
Calque from Mandarin 火狐 (huǒhú, literally “fire fox”).
Full word history & related roots →firefox · noun
- Finnishtulirepo
- Finnishtulikettu
- Englishfirefox
Calque of Finnish tulikettu or Finnish tulirepo.
More words from Finnish
Full word history & related roots →Firefox · proper noun
Renamed from Firebird in 2004. The reasoning given for the name, explained as another name for the red panda (see firefox), was, “It's similar to Firebird. It's easy to remember. It sounds good. It's unique. We like it. And we weren't able to find any other project or company even remotely similar to a web browser that uses the same name.” The logo depicts a fox (hence the name is equivalent to fire + fox); its original designer, Jon Hicks, has stated, “A firefox is actually a cute red panda, but it didn’t really conjure up the right imagery. The only concept I had done that I felt happy with was […] inspired by seeing a Japanese brush painting of a fox”.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic فَيَرْفُكْس
- فَيَرْفُكْس (fayarfuks)open-source web browser
Bulgarian Фа́йърфокс
- Фа́йърфокс (Fájărfoks)open-source web browser
Chinese Mandarin 火狐
- 火狐 (huǒhú)open-source web browser
Esperanto Fajrovulpo
- Fajrovulpoopen-source web browser
Finnish tulikettu, tulikko
- tulikettuTranslations
- tulikkoTranslations
- tulirepoTranslations
- Firefoxopen-source web browser
German Firefox
- Firefoxopen-source web browser
Hebrew פיירפוקס
- פיירפוקס (Fayerfoks)open-source web browser
Japanese ファイアフォックス, 火狐
- ファイアフォックス (Faiafokkusu)open-source web browser
- 火狐 (higitsune)open-source web browser
Korean 파이어폭스
- 파이어폭스 (Paieopokseu)open-source web browser
Persian فایرفاکس
- فایرفاکس (fâyrfâks)open-source web browser
Russian Firefox, Огнелис
- Firefoxopen-source web browser
- Огнелис (Ognelis)open-source web browser
- Файрфокс (Fajrfoks)open-source web browser
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
firefox. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/firefox
“firefox.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/firefox. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “firefox,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/firefox.
Source: firefox on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.