buxis

Forms

buxis m (genitive buxidis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box”),^[1][2][3] and so a doublet of pyxis and buxus (“box tree”).^[1] The TLL treats it as a spelling of the first, its initial ⟨bux-⟩ remade after the name of the box tree.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds the ⟨bux-⟩ spelling in old manuscripts of medical writers such as Oribasius and in a letter of Gregory the Great.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The grammarians and glossaries knew it as the popular form: the glossary of Placidus says of pyxis that “we corruptly say buxidem”, and another gloss explains pyxidēs as small vessels of silver or wood which the common people call buxidēs.^[5] Lewis & Short note buxidēs as a variant reading in the Sententiae of Paulus.^[6] Niermeyer records it in Medieval Latin as the same word as pyxis, a small box.^[3]

Through a Vulgar Latin *buxita it is the source of Old French boiste, French boîte, and of Middle English boyst, borrowed from French.^[1]

Timeline

• 540–604 AD – A letter of Gregory the Great has the ⟨bux-⟩ spelling.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A small box or casket.^[1][3][5]

Related words

• pyxis
• buxus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press