fax

English Online Dictionary. What means fax‎? What does fax mean?

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: făks, IPA^(key): /fæks/
• Homophone: facts (informal US and Canada pronunciation)
• Rhymes: -æks

Etymology 1

From Middle English fax, from Old English feax (“hair, head of hair”), from Proto-West Germanic *fahs, from Proto-Germanic *fahsą (“hair, mane”), from Proto-Indo-European *poḱsom (“hair”, literally “that which is combed, shorn, or plucked”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“to comb, shear, pluck”). Cognate with Dutch vas (“headhair”), German Fachs (“head-hair”), Norwegian faks (“mane”), Icelandic fax (“mane”), Sanskrit पक्ष्मन् (pákṣman, “eyelash, hair, filament”).

Noun

fax (usually uncountable, plural faxes)

1. (obsolete or UK dialectal) The hair of the head.

Derived terms

• faxed
• Fairfax
• Halifax

Etymology 2

Clipping of facsimile, first attested 1979.

Noun

fax (plural faxes or faxxes)

2. Ellipsis of fax machine.
3. A document sent, or received and printed by a fax machine.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Japanese: ファックス

Translations

Verb

fax (third-person singular simple present faxes or faxxes, present participle faxing or faxxing, simple past and past participle faxed or faxxed)

1. To send a document via a fax machine.

Translations

Etymology 3

Based on the similar sounding word facts; the pronunciation is identical in certain varieties of English.

Noun

fax

1. (informal) Nonstandard form of facts.

Interjection

fax

1. (informal) Alternative form of facts (“used to express agreement”).

Chinese

Etymology

From English fax.

Pronunciation 1

Noun

fax

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) fax (document) (Classifier: 張／张 c; 份 c)

   fax機／fax机 [Cantonese]  ―  fek¹ si² gei¹ [Jyutping]  ―  fax machine

Pronunciation 2

Verb

fax

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to fax

References

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

Czech

Noun

fax m inan

1. fax (document)
2. fax, fax machine

Declension

Related terms

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɑks/
• Hyphenation: fax
• Rhymes: -ɑks

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English fax (“a fax machine; to fax”).

Noun

fax m (plural faxen, diminutive faxje n)

1. fax

Synonyms

• telefacsimile
• telefax

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

fax

1. inflection of faxen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English fax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /faks/

Noun

fax m (plural fax)

1. fax

   Synonym: télécopie

2. fax machine

   Synonyms: télécopieur, télécopieuse

German

Pronunciation

Verb

fax

1. singular imperative of faxen

Hungarian

Etymology

From English (tele)fax, from facsimile.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɒks]
• Rhymes: -ɒks

Noun

fax (countable and uncountable, plural faxok)

1. (historical) the procedure of faxing (sending a document via a fax machine)
2. (historical) fax, ellipsis of faxkészülék (“fax machine”)
3. (historical) ellipsis of faxüzenet (“fax message/document”)
4. (historical) ellipsis of faxszám (“fax number”)

Declension

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• fax in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (‘A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2024)

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /faxs/
• IPA^(key): /faks/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse fax (“mane”).

Noun

fax n (genitive singular fax, nominative plural föx)

1. mane (of a horse)

Declension

See also

• makki

Etymology 2

From English fax, from facsimile, from Latin.

Noun

fax n (genitive singular fax, nominative plural föx)

1. fax, telefax (document sent electronically and printed with a fax machine)

   Synonym: símbréf

2. fax machine

   Synonyms: faxtæki, bréfsími

Declension

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₂k- (“to shine”). Cognate with facētus, Lithuanian žvakė (“candle”). Compare also Etruscan 𐌚𐌀𐌂𐌄 (face, “torch (?)”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /faks/, [fäks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /faks/, [fäks]

Noun

fax f (genitive facis); third declension

1. torch, firebrand
2. fireball, comet
3. cause of ruin, incitement

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Derived terms

• facula

See also

• torris
• titio

References

• “fax”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fax”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “fax”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• fax in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• fax in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “fax”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “fax”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 495

Middle English

Alternative forms

• væx (early)

Etymology

From Old English feax, from Proto-West Germanic *fahs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /faks/

Noun

fax (plural faxes)

1. The hair of the head.

Derived terms

• faxwax

Descendants

• English: fax (obsolete)
• Scots: fax

References

• “fax, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from English fax.

Noun

fax m (plural fax)

1. (Jersey) fax

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fahsą, from *peḱ- (“to pluck”).

Noun

fax n

1. a mane

Declension

Descendants

• Icelandic: fax
• Faroese: faks
• Norwegian: faks
• → Scots: fax (foam-topped wave, swell)

References

• “fax”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fax”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “fax”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• fax in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “fax”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “fax”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English fax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /faks/
• Rhymes: -aks
• Syllabification: fax

Noun

fax m inan

1. (telephony) Alternative spelling of faks

   Synonym: telefax

Declension

Further reading

• fax in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• fax in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Noun

fax m (plural faxes)

1. fax (document transmitted by telephone)

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English fax.

Noun

fax n (plural faxuri)

1. fax

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English fax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaɡs/ [ˈfaɣ̞s]
• Rhymes: -aɡs
• Syllabification: fax

Noun

fax m (plural fax)

1. fax

Further reading

• “fax”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Anagrams

• xfa

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Homophone: facks

Noun

fax c or n

1. a fax (machine) c
2. a fax (document) n

Declension

Synonyms

• telefax

Related terms

References

• fax in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Zhuang

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *vaːꟲ (“sky; weather”). Cognate with Thai ฟ้า (fáa), Northern Thai ᨼ᩶ᩣ, Lao ຟ້າ (fā), Lü ᦝᦱᧉ (faa²), Shan ၽႃႉ (phâ̰a) or ၾႃႉ (fâ̰a), Ahom 𑜇𑜠 (pha), 𑜇𑜡 (phā), 𑜇𑜨𑜠 (phoa), 𑜇𑜨𑜡 (phoā) or 𑜇𑜞𑜠 (phra).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /fa˦˨/
• Tone numbers: fa⁴
• Hyphenation: fax

Noun

fax (Sawndip forms 𭱇 or 𫯨 or 𪥉, 1957–1982 spelling faч)

1. (dialectal, including Longzhou) sky

   Synonym: mbwn