Standard Lemma guide

fennec

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈfɛnɪk/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛnɪk
  • homophone: Fenwick

1

noun

Meaning 1

A small fox of the species Vulpes zerda, found in the Sahara (excluding the coast) and having distinctive oversized ears.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French fennec, from Arabic فَنَك (fanak).

Across languages

Translations

39 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: فَنَك (fanak) — fox
  • Bulgarian: фенек (fenek) — fox
  • Catalan: fennec — fox
  • Chinese Mandarin: 耳廓狐 (ěrkuòhú) — fox
  • Chinese Mandarin: 耳郭狐 (ěrguōhú) — fox
  • Chinese Mandarin: 𦗒狐 (guōhú) — fox
  • Czech: fenek — fox
  • Dutch: fennek — fox
  • Esperanto: feneko — fox
  • Finnish: aavikkokettu — fox
  • French: fennec — fox
  • German: Fennek — fox
  • Hausa: Fennec — fox
  • Hebrew: פֶנֶק (féneq) — fox
  • Hungarian: sivatagi róka — fox
  • Icelandic: eyðimerkurrefur — fox
  • Icelandic: fennec-refur — fox
  • Italian: fennec — fox
  • Japanese: フェネック (fenekku) — fox
  • Japanese: フェネック狐 (fenekku-gitsune) — fox
  • Kazakh: қалқанқұлақ түлкі (qalqanqūlaq tülkı) — fox
  • Kazakh: фенек (fenek) — fox
  • Korean: 페넥여우 (peneg-yeou) — fox
  • Korean: 사막여우 (samag-yeou) — fox
  • Maltese: volpi tad-deżert — fox
  • Mongolian: цөлийн үнэг (cöliin üneg) — fox
  • Norwegian: ørkenrev — fox
  • Polish: fenek — fox
  • Portuguese: feneco — fox
  • Romanian: fenec — fox
  • Russian: фе́нек (fének) — fox
  • Spanish: fénec — fox
  • Swedish: fennek — fox
  • Swedish: ökenräv — fox
  • Turkish: çöl tilkisi — fox
  • Vietnamese: cáo Fennec — fox
  • Vietnamese: cáo tai to châu Phi — fox
  • Welsh: ffennec — fox
  • Yoruba: kọ̀lọ̀kọ̀lọ̀ — fox