box

Where does the word "box" come from? It comes from Greek pýxos, passing through Latin and Old English before entering English (1300s).

Box’s story begins in Greek: pýxos meant “box tree.” The box tree; its hard wood gave the pyxis, a lidded Greek container often painted with scenes. By classical, the word had taken hold in Latin as buxus. Boxwood, valued for its fine hard grain and clipped into topiary in Roman gardens, as Pliny the Younger describes at his villa. From there it passed into Old English as box by medieval. Meant the tree, then containers made from its wood. It reached English by 1300s as box. 'Boxing Day', from Christmas boxes of money given to servants, is recorded from the 1830s. Today, box means a container with flat sides and a lid; an evergreen shrub.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient pýxos "box tree", the box tree; its hard wood gave the pyxis, a lidded Greek container often painted with scenes.
2. Stage 2 · Latin · classical buxus "box tree, boxwood", boxwood, valued for its fine hard grain and clipped into topiary in Roman gardens, as Pliny the Younger describes at his villa.
3. Stage 3 · Old English · medieval box "box tree; container", meant the tree, then containers made from its wood.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1300s box "container", 'Boxing Day', from Christmas boxes of money given to servants, is recorded from the 1830s.