Fuchs

English

Etymology

From German Fuchs. Doublet of Fox and Vos.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fjuːks/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːks

Proper noun

Fuchs

  1. A surname from German.

Derived terms

Statistics

  • According to the 2010 United States Census, Fuchs is the 2,784th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 12,958 individuals. Fuchs is most common among White (95.03%) individuals.

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old High German fuhs, from Proto-West Germanic *fuhs, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz, from Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos (“the tailed one”). Cognate with German Fuchs, Dutch vos, English fox, also Sanskrit पुच्छ (puccha, “tail”), Tocharian B päkā (“tail, chowry”).

Pronunciation

Noun

Fuchs m (plural Füchs, diminutive Füchsli)

  1. fox

Bavarian

Alternative forms

Noun

Fuchs

  1. fox

Declension

Derived terms

  • Füchsin f
  • Füchsel (plural: Füchsel, dative plural: Füchseln)

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fʊks/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio (Germany (Berlin)):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʊks

Etymology 1

    From Middle High German vuhs, from Old High German fuhs, from Proto-West Germanic *fuhs, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz, from Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos (“the tailed one”), from *puḱ- (“tail”). Cognate with English fox, Sanskrit पुच्छ (púccha).

    Noun

    Fuchs m (strong, genitive Fuchses, plural Füchse, diminutive Füchslein n or Füchschen n, feminine Füchsin)

    1. fox (animal)
      Fuchs, du hast die Gans gestohlen. Gib sie wieder her!
      Fox, you've stolen the goose. Give it back here!
      (line from a popular children’s song)
    2. (informal) a clever or cunning person, sly fox
      Er ist ein ganz schöner Fuchs.
      He is quite the sly fox.
    3. (informal) redhead (a red-haired person)
      Unser Paul ist ja ein kleiner Fuchs.
      Our Paul is a little redhead.
    4. (equestrianism) chestnut, sorrel horse (horse with a reddish-brown coat, mane and tail)
      • 1913 [1878], chapter 21, in Hermann Röhl, transl., Anna Karenina‎[1], part 2, translation of Анна Каренина (Anna Karenina) by Leo Tolstoy:
        Aber während er den Gang entlang schritt, öffnete der Stallknecht die Tür zu der zweiten Box links, und Wronski erblickte einen kräftig gebauten Fuchs mit weißen Füßen.
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    5. pledge (prospective member of a fraternity)
    6. (military, slang) a new recruit
    7. (card games) the ace of diamonds in Doppelkopf, where it earns a side of players an extra point if they win it from the other side
      Ich hatte nur vier Trümpfe und darunter beide Füchse.
      I had only four trumps and among them were both aces of diamonds.
    8. (military) a tank Transportpanzer Fuchs
    9. (archaic) a form of sunscald on hops
      Synonyms: Röte, rote Lohe, Sommerbrand
    10. a fox in radiosport foxhunt
    11. (obsolete) any gold coin
    12. (entomology) tortoiseshell
    Declension
    Declension of Fuchs [masculine, strong]
    singular plural
    indef. def. noun def. noun
    nominative ein der Fuchs die Füchse
    genitive eines des Fuchses der Füchse
    dative einem dem Fuchs, Fuchse1 den Füchsen
    accusative einen den Fuchs die Füchse

    1Now rare, see notes.

    Hyponyms
    Coordinate terms
    Derived terms

    Proper noun

    Fuchs m or f (proper noun, surname, masculine genitive Fuchs' or (with an article) Fuchs, feminine genitive Fuchs, plural Fuchs or Fuchsens)

    1. a common surname transferred from the nickname
    2. a German Jewish surname
    Descendants
    • → Greek: Φιξ (Fix)

    Etymology 2

    Probably from an alteration of archaic Feist (“fat”). Compare the older variants Feix, Feits.

    Alternative forms

    Noun

    Fuchs m (strong, genitive Fuchses, plural Füchse)

    2. a member of a student fraternity in his first year
      • 1870, “Der Student auf Ferien”, in Die Gartenlaube‎[2], number 1, page 16:
        Und es werden wohl die ersten Ferien sein, die der Fuchs im Elternhause zubringt, denn Hund und Pfeife, Wasserstiefel und Verbindungsband stehen dem sammetröckigen Bruder Studio noch so neu, es sieht Alles noch so wohlgehalten aus, wie bemoostere Häupter es nicht zur Schau tragen können.
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)
      • 1918, Heinrich Mann, Der Untertan‎[3], Leipzig: Kurt Wolff Verlag, page 31:
        Ein Drama entstand, wenn ein junger Fuchs sich den Scherz machte, ihm das Bierglas wegzunehmen. Delitzsch rührte kein Glied, aber seine Miene, die dem geraubten Glase überall hin folgte, enthielt plötzlich den ganzen, stürmisch bewegten Ernst des Daseins, und er rief in sächsischem Schreitenor: […]
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    3. (by extension) beginner; fresher
    Derived terms
    Descendants
    • → Danish: fuks
    • → Finnish: fuksi
    • → Norwegian: fuks
    • → Swedish: fux

    Further reading

    • “Fuchs” in Duden online
    • “Fuchs”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[4] (in German)
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