2848: Box: From Knotted Shrub to any Rectangle Oct 7, 2024

Boxwood is quite a hardy wood, despite the fact that it comes from an evergreen shrub, so due to its strength but size limitations, it is used in small strips to reinforce pieces, in a process known as ‘boxing’. While it would be impractical for making large boxes, it seems to be the origin of the word ‘box’ from Latin pyxis (‘medicine box’) likely related to the Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís) for ‘boxwood’. This has not led to a number of words that are now only distantly related in meaning, like the Irish ‘piseog’ for ‘evil curse’ from the original Latin meaning, or indeed the sport of ‘boxing’, or the more generic use seen in Afrikaans ‘bos’ meaning ‘bush; shrub’ of all types, hence ‘rooibos’ (red bush).

In English, despite the fact that the root possibly meant ‘to bend’ in reference to the shrubbery branches, it can now be used for any sort of rectangle or rectangular prison, real or imagined. Insofar as it can be used generically to refer to a rectangle particularly to enclose something, this was reinforced by the shrub being one of many frequently used for acting as a kind of fence or barrier, because it is very sturdy.