Wiktionary

vixen

See also:Vixen

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Alteration of earlierfixen,fromMiddle Englishfixen,fromOld Englishfyxe,fromProto-West Germanic*fuhsini,fromProto-Germanic*fuhsinī;the voicedv-comes from the Southern dialectal forms of Middle English. Alternatively, from theOld Englishadjectivefyxen(“of the fox”),as in the phrasefixenhȳd( “fox skin”; compareMiddle Englishfoxenfox).[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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vixen(pluralvixens)

  1. Afemalefox.
    Synonyms:she-fox(rare),foxess(rare)
  2. Amalicious,quarrelsomeortemperamentalwoman.
    Synonyms:seeThesaurus:shrew
    • 1749,Henry Fielding,The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling,volume(please specify |volume=I to VI),London:A[ndrew]Millar,[…],→OCLC:
      He was prudent and industrious, and so good a husbandman, that he might have led a very easy and comfortable life, had not an arrantvixenof a wife soured his domestic quiet.
    • 1859,George Eliot,Adam Bede,Köln: Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, published1999,page54:
      […]and if Solomon was as wise as he is reputed to be, I feel sure that when he compared a contentious woman to a continual dripping on a very rainy day, he had not avixenin his eye–a fury with long nails, acrid and selfish.
    • 2002June 2,WayForward,Shantae,Game Boy Color,level/area: Mimic's Dock:
      (Mimic): 'I used the plans to build a Steam Engine of my own. I was almost done when thatvixenswiped it!'
  3. (colloquial)Aracyorsalaciouswoman who is sexually attractive.
    Synonyms:seeThesaurus:promiscuous woman,Thesaurus:vamp
  4. (colloquial)Awifewho has sex with other men with her husband's consent.

Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^“fixen,n.”,inMED Online,Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.

Anagrams

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