πύξος

Forms

πῠ́ξος (púxos) f (genitive πῠ́ξου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it a loanword from Italy, where the tree is at home, rather than from Asia Minor or Greece.^[2][1] He rejects Scardigli's derivation from Asia Minor (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to grow”), as in φύω (phúō)) and Carnoy's link with Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to bend”).^[2][1][3] It goes with Latin buxus (“box tree”): either the Latin word was taken from πύξος, or both were borrowed separately.^[2][4]

From the Latin forms came the modern European words, such as French buis, German Büchse and the English word box.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer knows only the adjective πύξινος (púxinos, “of boxwood”); the noun itself first appears in the 4th century BC, in works of the Aristotelian corpus and in an inscription from Epidaurus, for the box tree and its wood.^[6][2][7]

Semantic evolution

Theophrastus describes the box tree, and Nicander uses the word for boxwood.^[6] Eustathius records the proverb “you have brought box to Cytorus”, which LSJ renders as “carry coals to Newcastle”.^[6] Its derivative πυξίς (puxís) gave Latin pyxis.^[2]

In medieval Greek the word became masculine, and its accent moved to the last syllable.^[8] Modern Greek πύξος (pýxos), also masculine, is a learned word.^[9]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – An inscription from Epidaurus uses it for boxwood.^[6]
• 4th century BC – Works of the Aristotelian corpus mention the box tree.^[6][7]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus describes the box tree.^[6][10]
• 2nd century BC – Nicander uses it for boxwood.^[6][10]
• 12th century AD – Eustathius records the proverb of box carried to Cytorus.^[6][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The box tree, Buxus sempervirens.^[6][11]
2. Boxwood.^[6]

Word family

• πύξινος (púxinos)
• παράπυξος (parápuxos)
• πυξίον (puxíon)
• πυξιόπους (puxiópous)
• πυξίς (puxís)
• πυξών (puxṓn)

Related words

• Latin buxus
• English box

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
5. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press