English
foxish
Foxish comes from Middle English foxish.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foxish
- Englishearliest quotation 1974same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foxish
- Englishearliest quotation 1974same form
Earliest quotation: 1974, Thea Astley, A Kindness Cup: “Over all the faces was a sheen of appetite…”
Formed from fox + -ish
Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos ‘the tailed one’
Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz ‘fox’
Proto-West Germanic *fuhs
Old English fox ‘fox’
Middle English fox
English fox
Every English word from Middle English foxish
Today it means
adj Like or characteristic of a fox; foxlike; (by extension) sly.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English foxish / foxish