THE ZOOLOGIST 



FOR 1858. ' 



Remarks on the Etymology of Names of Animals. 

 By the Rev. Philip H. Newnham, M.A. 



(Continued from p. 5697). 



It is not easy satisfactorily to trace the origin of the word fox. 

 Richardson ascribes it to the Gothic verb foxa, to deceive ; but it is 

 far more probable, from the analogy of similar instances, that the verb 

 has its origin in the name of the animal. Talbot refers fox to the 

 old English word fax, hair (whence the name of Fairfax), as if the 

 creature were named from its long bushy tail. Tt is, at all events, 

 identical with the GexmSinfuchs, and this latter word strongly reminds 

 us of the Latin adjective fusciis, which properly denotes a reddish 

 brown colour ; but I would not venture to affirm that this resemblance 

 is anything more than accidental. Vixen is only a feminine form of 

 fox, and was originally written fixen, or, more anciently, foxin. It 

 appears from an early period to have been applied to quarrelsome 

 snarling people, irrespective of sex ; and, however the ladies may 

 rebut the charge, one cannot help remarking the significant fact that 

 language and custom have now made this word the monopoly of the 

 fairer sex. In Scotland the fox is known as the tod. This word in 

 Gaelic means a clod, or bush, or a quantity of wool, and we ourselves 

 use it to denote a measure in Wool weight. As applied to the fox, 

 it seems to refer to his bushy tail, and this analogy supports the con- 

 jecture of Talbot which has been already alluded to. 



Cat in Latin is catus ; French, chat ; Greek, ycxTo; ; Turkish, keti ; 

 Arabic, kitta ; but I am quite unable to deduce the meaning of the 

 name. Kitten, of course, is only a diminutive form. The familiar 

 XVI. B 



