Everyday LifeGreek → English
Box
/bɑːks/noun
A rigid container with a flat base and usually a lid.
The Greek roots
πυξίς
pyxís
boxwood container
πύξος
pýxos
box tree
Literally: “vessel of boxwood”
The story of the word
The container is named after the wood it was cut from. Boxwood is dense and close-grained and turns beautifully on a lathe, so πυξίς meant a small round pot of the stuff, often for ointment. Late Latin buxis handed the word to Old English before the Conquest. The same Greek noun returned by way of French as the pyx, the box that holds the consecrated bread. Boxing, the sport, has nothing to do with any of this.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old English
- First recorded
- Old English
Same family
pyxboxwood
In a sentence
Everything he owned went into four boxes and a rucksack.