wax
Wax, the substance made by bees, and wax, to grow, are separate Old English words, though the ODWO notes that they may share a root.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /wæks/[4]
wax1 substance
Etymology
The substance is inherited from Middle English wax, inherited from Old English weax,[1][5][2][6] from Proto-Germanic *wahsam,[5] cognate with Old Frisian wax, Old Saxon wahs, Dutch was, Old High German wahs (modern German Wachs) and Old Norse vax,[1][5][2][6] from Proto-Indo-European *wokso- (“wax”), also the source of Lithuanian vaškas.[1][5] Hoad derives it from a root meaning to weave,[2] and Merriam-Webster relates it to wick.[6]
Earliest recorded meaning
Semantic evolution
In early use it was especially the substance that takes a seal, or the surface of writing tablets (1533).[5][7] A man of wax, a wax image, is an obsolete phrase of 1439.[7] The name passed to other similar substances in the 18th century.[5] Waxwork is from the 17th century.[2] In American slang of 1932 wax was a gramophone record, since master records were cut in a waxy disc.[5]
Timeline
- 805 – beeswax.[7][1]
- 1439 – man of wax (obsolete).[7]
- 1533 – wax of writing tablets.[7]
- 17th century – waxwork.[2]
- 18th century – other waxy substances.[5]
- 1932 – wax, a record (US slang).[5]
Modern meaning
Noun
- Beeswax.
- Any of various similar natural or mineral substances, such as paraffin wax.
- Earwax.
Verb
- To coat, treat or polish with wax.
- To make a gramophone record of.
Adjective
- Made of wax.
Word family
- waxen
- waxy
- waxwork
- beeswax
wax2 grow
Etymology
To grow is inherited from Middle English waxen, inherited from Old English weaxan (“to increase, grow”),[1][5][2][6] from Proto-Germanic *wahsanan,[5] cognate with Old Frisian waxa, Old Saxon wahsan, Dutch wassen, Old High German wahsan (modern German wachsen) and Old Norse vaxa,[1][5][2][6] and related to Latin augeō (“to increase”) and Ancient Greek αὐξάνω (auxánō, “to grow, increase”),[1][6] from an extended form of Proto-Indo-European *aug- (“to increase”) (see eke).[5][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
To grow: about 725, in Beowulf;[1] first of trees and plants.[5]
Semantic evolution
Of persons and animals it is from the late 12th century,[5] and to become, as in to wax lyrical, from the 12th.[2][3] Of the moon it is from early Middle English, paired with wane.[5][3] The verb is now limited to a few such uses.[3] Waist seems to come from the same root.[3]
Timeline
- c. 725 – to grow.[1]
- before 1123 – wexen.[1]
- late 12th century – of persons and animals.[5]
- 12th century – to become.[2]
Modern meaning
Verb
- Of the moon, to show a growing lit area between new and full.
- To increase gradually in size, number, strength or intensity.
- (literary) To become: to wax lyrical.
Related words
- woadwaxen
- woodwaxen
- wick
- wane
- waist
- eke
Usage notes
Wax, a fit of temper (1854), as when someone is said to be in a wax, perhaps comes from wax, to grow.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press