fennec

[fen-ek]

noun

a small, pale yellowish-brown fox, Fennecus zerda, of northern Africa, having large, pointed ears.

Origin of fennec

1780–90; < Arabic fanak < Persian

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fennec

Historical Examples of fennec

And yet, correctly speaking, it was not a fox neither, but a fennec.
The Young Yagers
Mayne Reid
The fennec is a creature of the desert, and lives in burrows which it scoops out in the sand.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History
Theodore Wood
The fennec spends the heat of the day comfortably curled up in its burrow, with its nose tucked away under its big bushy tail.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History
Theodore Wood
The above Fennec was about ten inches long, the tail five inches and a quarter, near an inch of it on the tip, black.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 286, December 8, 1827
Various

British Dictionary definitions for fennec

fennec

noun

a very small nocturnal fox, Fennecus zerda, inhabiting deserts of N Africa and Arabia, having pale fur and enormous ears

Word Origin for fennec

C18: from Arabic fenek fox

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fennec

fox-like animal of Africa, 1790, from Arabic fenek, fanak "a name vaguely applied to various fur-bearing animals" [OED].