Etymologically
Log in

buxis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 09:06. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈbʊk.sɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈbuk.sis][1]

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]

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