renard

fox (small carnivore); crafty, purposeful and cunning character; flatulence; ancient navigation tool: circular, wooden or copper plate, which enables the helmsman to keep a record of wind conditions by inserting pegs at specific positions; hardly detectable cracks or holes causing a water tank or pond to empty itself

Inherited from Middle French renard, from Old French renart, the name of the fox in the medieval Roman de Renart. A Germanic personal name, from Frankish *Raginahardu, from Proto-Germanic *Raginaharduz, from *raginą (“counsel”) + *harduz (“hard, strong”). Compare German Reinhard, whence Reineke (name of the fox, after the same tale). Displaced goupil (from Latin vulpecula), possibly by way of taboo avoidance.