Vulpicides

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term referring to individuals or methods that specifically target and kill foxes, often for agricultural or ecological reasons
2. Describing practices or agents involved in the extermination of fox populations to protect livestock or native wildlife
3. Relating to those who engage in or support the hunting and culling of foxes, frequently associated with pest control measures

Etymology: "Vulpicides" is the plural of "vulpicide", a noun for the killing of foxes, and its parts come from two separate languages. The first, "vulpi-", comes from Latin "vulpēs" or "vulpis", meaning "fox". The second, "-cide", is a suffix from Latin "-cida", a form of "caedere", "to kill", which English adopted to form words for killing, as in "homicide" and "regicide". Because the suffix is a productive one, the word is a straightforward combination rather than an inherited term: a Latin root for the animal joined to a Latin suffix for killing. Its plural simply follows the regular English pattern of adding "-s" to the singular.

Synonyms: fox hunters, fox exterminators