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pax

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Etymology and origin of the English word pax

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1390 Chaucer, Parson's Tale
Borrowed from
Latin pax via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin pāx
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pax
French paix
Italian pace
English pax
From the same root
Latin pacifico ← pax

Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English pax,[2][3] borrowed from Medieval Latin pāx (“peace”),[4][5][3][6][7] which in Ecclesiastical Latin also meant the kiss of peace.[5] The Latin word for peace is also the source of peace,[4][5][7] and the American Heritage Dictionary traces it to the root Proto-Indo-European *pag-.[6] Uses such as “Pax Britannica” are modelled on Pāx Rōmāna (“the Roman peace”).[4][5][6] The OED compares the earlier English word paxbred.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A tablet with a sacred image, kissed by the priest and then by the people at Mass: about 1390, in Chaucer's Parson's Tale.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

From the tablet the word passed to the kiss or sign of peace itself and the point in the Mass where it is given (1440, in the Promptorium Parvulorum).[4][2] In the 16th century it was also used simply for peace, a sense now rare.[4] In British public schools pax meant friends ("good pax", 1781);[4] from 1843 it was a cry for a truce in games.[4][8] The pattern of Pax Romana produced Pax Britannica (1872) and Pax Americana, used by 1884 of the union of the American states;[5][4] Merriam-Webster and Collins record this pax as a period of peace kept by one dominant power.[3][8] Capitalized, Pax was the Roman goddess of peace.[5][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1390 – a tablet kissed at Mass.[4]
  • 1440 – the kiss of peace at Mass.[4]
  • 1564 – peace (now rare).[4]
  • 1781 – friends, in public-school slang.[4]
  • 1843 – a call for a truce.[4]
  • 1872 – Pax Britannica.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Christianity) The kiss of peace or sign of peace at Mass.[8][3][4]
  2. (historical) A small tablet bearing an image of the Crucifixion or a saint, kissed by the priest and then by the people at Mass.[8][3][4]
  3. (usually capitalized) A period of international peace kept by one dominant power, as in Pax Romana or Pax Britannica.[3][8]

Interjection

  1. (British school slang) A call for a truce in a game: Pax! I give up![8][4]

Usage notes

Two minor words share the spelling: pax as a variant of pox in curses (1604–1745),[4][3] and pax for a passenger in the travel industry (1978), apparently from the abbreviation pass-.[4][9]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pax.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/pax. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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