fax

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfaks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfaks]^[1]

Forms

fax f (genitive facis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fwak(w)-(ē-), of uncertain origin.^[2][3][1] De Vaan considers a PIE *ǵʰwok-, with /o/ unrounded to /a/, which would make it cognate with Lithuanian žvãkė (“candle”); a link with Greek φώψ “light”, a Hesychian word, is uncertain.^[2][1] He also derives facētus “clever” from the same stem, from “enlightened” to “clever”.^[2] Wiktionary compares Etruscan face (“torch (?)”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a torch for light, as Horace's man who walks with torches before nightfall, and a torch in processions, above all at weddings, so that by metonymy it meant marriage.^[3] In poetry it was the light of the sun and stars, and it was a meteor or comet.^[3][1] Figuratively it was what kindles passion or ruin, an incitement.^[1][5] Döderlein calls it the general word for a torch, against taeda of pine and fūnāle of wax.^[6]

In medieval Latin it kept the sense of a torch, of a heavenly light, and figurative uses.^[7] It was borrowed as Italian face.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a torch.^[8][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace mentions torches carried before nightfall.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A torch, firebrand.^[3][5]
2. A wedding torch; marriage.^[3]
3. (poetic) The light of a heavenly body.^[3]
4. A meteor, comet.^[3][1]
5. An incitement, cause of ruin.^[1][5]

Word family

• facella
• facētus
• facula

Related words

• tītiō
• torris
• taeda

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.