raposa

See raposo. Compare Portuguese raposa, Spanish raposa.

raposa f (plural raposas)

1. vixen (animal)

• raposo

Borrowed from Spanish raposa (“fox”), probably from rabo (“tail”), from Latin rāpum (“turnip”) + -ōsus, and influenced by descendants of rapiō (“snatch, grab”).

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɐ.ˈpo.zɐ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁa.ˈpo.zɐ/
• Hyphenation: ra‧po‧sa

raposa f (plural raposas)

1. fox (any canid of the genus Vulpes)
   • 2015, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, O Pequeno Príncipe, Pelekanos Books →ISBN

     – Os homens, disse a raposa, têm fuzis e caçam. É bem incômodo!

     “The men”, said the fox, “have rifles and they hunt. It’s quite bothersome!”

2. (specifically) vixen (female fox)
3. (Brazil) opposum (any American marsupial of the family Didelphidae)
4. (usually derogatory) fox (a sly or cunning person)

Raposa is one of the few feminines that are used by default (when the referent’s sex is unknown or irrelevant).

• (fox): golpelha
• (opossum): gambá

• raposo
• casamento de raposa

See raposo.

raposa f (plural raposas, masculine raposo, masculine plural raposos)

1. female equivalent of raposo vixen

• zorra
• vulpeja