box

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A container with stiff, flat sides, usually used for holding or carrying things.

   He packed his books into a cardboard box.

2. 2
   noun

   The amount that a box holds.

   She gave her friend a box of chocolates.

3. 3
   verb

   To put something into a box.

   Please box the gift before you wrap it.

4. 4
   noun

   A small separate area where a few people can sit, such as in a theatre.

   They watched the play from a private box.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Box meaning “container” is an Old English word, probably derived through late Latin buxis from Greek puxis, the name of a tree whose hard wood was used to make boxes. Box meaning “a blow,” recorded in the late Middle Ages and later associated with pugilism, has a separate and unknown origin.

Etymology tree Ancient Greek πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos) Ancient Greek -ις (-is) Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís)bor. Late Latin buxisbor. Proto-West Germanic *buhsā Old English box Middle English box English box From Middle English box (“container, box, cup”), from Old English box (“box, case”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā (“box”) from Late Latin buxis (“box”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries”), of uncertain origin; compare Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”) and πύξος (púxos, “box tree; boxwood”). Doublet of piseog, pyx, and pyxis. Cognate with…

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary