box: English has two distinct words box. The ‘receptacle’ [OE] probably comes from late Latin buxis, a variant of Latin pyxis (whence English pyx ‘container for Communion bread’ [14]). This was borrowed from Greek puxís, which originally meant not simply ‘box’, but specifically ‘box made of wood’; for it was a derivative of Greek púxos, which via Latin buxus has given English box the tree [OE]. Box ‘fight with the fists’ first appeared in English as a noun, meaning ‘blow’ [14], now preserved mainly in ‘a box round the ears’.
Its ancestry is uncertain: it may be related to Middle Dutch bōke and Danish bask ‘blow’, or it could simply be an obscure metaphorical extension of box ‘receptacle’. => pyx
box (n.1.)
Old English box "a wooden container," also the name of a type of shrub, from Late Latin buxis, from Greek pyxis "boxwood box," from pyxos "box tree," which is of uncertain origin. See OED entry for discussion. German Büchse also is a Latin loan word.
Meaning "compartment at a theater" is from c. 1600. Meaning "pigeon-hole at a post office" is from 1832. Meaning "television" is from 1950. Slang meaning "vulva" is attested 17c., according to "Dictionary of American Slang;" modern use seems to date from c.World War II, perhaps originally Australian, on notion of "box of tricks." Box office is 1786; in the figurative sense of "financial element of a performance" it is first recorded 1904. Box lunch (n.) attested from 1899. The box set, "multiple-album, CD or cassette issue of the work of an artist" is attested by 1955.
box (n.2.)
"a blow," c. 1300, of uncertain origin, possibly related to Middle Dutch boke, Middle High German buc, and Danish bask, all meaning "a blow," perhaps imitative.
box (v.1)
"to put into storage, put into a box," mid-15c., from box (n.1). Related: Boxed; boxing.
box (v.2)
"to beat or whip," late 14c., from box (n.2). Meaning "to fight with the fists" is from 1560s. Related: Boxed; boxing.
雙語例句
1. Patterson pointed toward a plain cardboard box beneath a long wooden table.
帕特森指著長木桌下的一個普通的紙板箱。
來自柯林斯例句
2. Martinez expressed confidence of victory at the ballot box.
馬丁內斯表示了對選舉獲勝的信心。
來自柯林斯例句
3. The film opened to healthy box office receipts before rapidly falling off.
這部影片的票房收入開始的時候持續上漲，但是后來急劇下降。
來自柯林斯例句
4. I had to box Max's ears to get him to hush.
我不得不打了馬克斯一耳光讓他閉嘴。
來自柯林斯例句
5. The original script was written with the idiot box in mind.