fennec
[fen-ek]
- a small, pale yellowish-brown fox, Fennecus zerda, of northern Africa, having large, pointed ears.
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Origin of fennec
1780–90; < Arabic fanak < Persian
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for fennec
Historical Examples
And yet, correctly speaking, it was not a fox neither, but a fennec.
The Young YagersMayne 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 HistoryTheodore 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 HistoryTheodore 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.
fennec
- a very small nocturnal fox, Fennecus zerda, inhabiting deserts of N Africa and Arabia, having pale fur and enormous ears
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Word Origin
C18: from Arabic fenek fox
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for fennec
n.
fox-like animal of Africa, 1790, from Arabic fenek, fanak "a name vaguely applied to various fur-bearing animals" [OED].
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper