box

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

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɒks/
• (General American) enPR: bäks, IPA^(key): /bɑks/
• Rhymes: -ɒks

Etymology 1

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 πύξος (púxos, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”) and Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”). Doublet of piseog, pyx, and pyxis.

Cognate with Middle Dutch bosse, busse (“jar; tin; round box”) (modern Dutch bos (“wood, forest”), bus (“container, box; bushing of a wheel”)), Old High German buhsa (Middle High German buhse, bühse, modern German Büchse (“box; can”)), Swedish bössa (“box”).

The humorous plural form boxen is from box + -en, by analogy with oxen.

Noun

box (plural boxes or (nonstandard, computing, humorous) boxen)

1. Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.
   2. A cuboid space; a cuboid container, often with a hinged lid.

      Synonyms: case, package
   3. A cuboid container and its contents; as much as fills such a container.

      Synonym: boxful
   4. A compartment (as a drawer) of an item of furniture used for storage, such as a cupboard, a shelf, etc.
   5. A compartment or receptacle for receiving items.
      1. A numbered receptacle at a newspaper office for anonymous replies to advertisements; see also box number.
   7. A compartment to sit inside in an auditorium, courtroom, theatre, or other building.

      Synonym: loge
   8. The driver’s seat on a horse-drawn coach.

      Synonym: box seat
   10. A small rectangular shelter.

       Synonyms: shelter, booth
   11. Short for horsebox (“container for transporting horses”).
   12. (automotive) Short for gearbox.
   13. (automotive) Short for stashbox.

       Synonym: stizzy
   14. (rail transport) Short for signal box.
   15. (figuratively) A predicament or trap.
   16. (slang) A prison cell.
       1. (slang) A cell used for solitary confinement.

          Synonym: hole
   17. (euphemistic) A coffin.
   18. (slang, preceded by the) The television.

       Synonyms: (Britain) telly, tube, TV
   19. (slang, vulgar) The vagina.

       Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vagina
   21. (computing, slang) A computer, or the case in which it is housed.

       Synonyms: computer, machine; see also Thesaurus:computer
   22. (slang) A gym dedicated to the CrossFit exercise program.
   24. (cricket) A hard protector for the genitals worn inside the underpants by a batsman or close fielder.

       Synonym: (US) cup
   25. (cricket) Synonym of gully (“a certain fielding position”)
   26. (engineering) A cylindrical casing around the axle of a wheel, a bearing, a gland, etc.
   28. (fencing) A device used in electric fencing to detect whether a weapon has struck an opponent, which connects to a fencer's weapon by a spool and body wire. It uses lights and sound to notify a hit, with different coloured lights for on target and off target hits.
   29. (dated) A small country house.
   30. (colloquial, chiefly Southern US) A stringed instrument with a soundbox, especially a guitar. [from 20th c.]
   31. (colloquial, chiefly UK, Ireland) Short for squeeze box (“accordion or concertina”).
2. Senses relating to a two-dimensional object or space
   1. A rectangle: an oblong or a square.
   2. (baseball) The rectangle in which the batter stands.
   3. (genetics) One of two specific regions in a promoter.
   5. (juggling) A pattern usually performed with three balls where the movements of the balls make a boxlike shape.
   6. (lacrosse, informal) Short for box lacrosse (“indoor form of lacrosse”).
   7. (soccer) The penalty area.
   8. (aviation) A diamond-shaped flying formation consisting of four aircraft.
3. (geometry, by extension) A rectangular object in any number of dimensions.

   Synonyms: hyperrectangle, orthotope

Usage notes

• (computing): the humorous plural form boxen is occasionally used.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

• tofu (“empty box displayed by some computer systems in place of a character not supported by available fonts”)

Verb

box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)

1. (transitive) To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.
2. (transitive) Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.
3. (transitive) To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to ensure that the color is identical.
4. (transitive, agriculture) To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.
5. (transitive, architecture) To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.
6. (transitive, engineering) To furnish (for example, the axle of a wheel) with a box.
7. (transitive, graphic design, printing) To enclose (images, text, etc.) in a box.
8. (transitive, object-oriented programming) To place a value of a primitive type into a casing object.

Synonyms

• (to place inside a box): box up, case, embox, encase, pack, pack up, package

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “place inside a box”): unbox, uncase, unpack

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English box (“box tree; boxwood”), from Old English box (“box tree”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhs (“box tree; thing made from boxwood”), from Latin buxus (“box tree; thing made from boxwood”), buxum (“box tree; boxwood”), possibly from πύξος (púxos, “box tree; boxwood”).

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. Any of various evergreen shrubs or trees of genus Buxus, especially common box, European box, or boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) which is often used for making hedges and topiary.
2. The wood from a box tree: boxwood.
3. (music, slang) A musical instrument, especially one made from boxwood.
4. (Australia) An evergreen tree of the genus Lophostemon (for example, box scrub, Brisbane box, brush box, pink box, or Queensland box, Lophostemon confertus).
5. (Australia) Various species of Eucalyptus trees are popularly called various kinds of boxes, on the basis of the nature of their wood, bark, or appearance for example, drooping box (Eucalyptus bicolor), shiny-leaved box (Eucalyptus tereticornis), black box, or ironbark box trees.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English box (“a blow; a stroke with a weapon”); further origin uncertain, with relation to Proto-Germanic *boki-, whence Danish bask (“a blow; a stripe”), Danish baske (“to flap, move around, beat violently”), Middle Dutch boke (“a blow, a hit”), bōken (“to slap, strike”) (modern Dutch beuken (“to slap”)), West Frisian bûkje, bûtse, bûtsje (“to slap”), West Frisian and Saterland Frisian batsje (“to slap”), Low German betschen (“to slap, beat with a flat hand”), Middle High German buc (“a blow, a stroke”), bochen (“to slap, strike”), and further onomatopoeic shaping.

The verb is from Middle English boxen (“to beat or whip (an animal)”), which is derived from the noun.

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. A blow with the fist.

Synonyms

• blow
• cuff
• punch

Translations

Verb

box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)

1. (transitive) To strike with the fists; to punch.
2. (transitive, boxing) To fight against (a person) in a boxing match.
3. (intransitive, stative, boxing) To participate in boxing; to be a boxer.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ⇒ French: boxer
  • → Catalan: boxar
• ⇒ Galician: boxear
• ⇒ German: boxen
• ⇒ Portuguese: boxear, boxar
• ⇒ Spanish: boxear

Translations

Etymology 4

From Latin bōx, from Ancient Greek βῶξ (bôx, “box (marine fish)”), from βοῦς (boûs, “ox”) + ὤψ (ṓps, “eye, view”), a reference to the large size of the fish's eyes relative to its body.

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. (dated) A Mediterranean food fish of the genus Boops, which is a variety of sea bream; a bogue or oxeye.

Translations

References

Further reading

• box on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• box (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “box”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• BXO, OBX

Czech

Noun

box m inan

1. boxing (the sport of boxing)

Declension

Related terms

Further reading

• “box”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “box”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English box. Doublet of buks (“shotgun”), bus (“container”), and pyxis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔks/
• Hyphenation: box
• Rhymes: -ɔks
• Homophone: boks

Noun

box m (plural boxen, diminutive boxje n)

1. speaker, loudspeaker

   Synonyms: luidspreker, speaker

2. playpen
3. compartment for livestock
4. tax category

   Inkomen uit loonarbeid valt onder box 1. ― Income from salaried work belongs to tax category 1.

Descendants

• →? Saramaccan: bokúsu
• → Sranan Tongo: boks

French

Etymology

From English box. Doublet of boîte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔks/

Noun

box m (plural box or boxes)

1. stall (for a horse), loose box
2. compartment, cubicle
3. garage, lock-up (for a car)

Derived terms

• box des accusés

Further reading

• “box”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Noun

box f (plural box)

1. Electronic equipment used for internet access (component of the digital subscriber line technology)

German

Verb

box

1. singular imperative of boxen

Hungarian

Noun

box

1. Misspelling of boksz.

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔxs/

Noun

box n (genitive singular box, nominative plural box)

1. box (container)

   Synonym: kassi

2. (sports) boxing

   Synonym: hnefaleikar

Declension

Derived terms

• boxa
• boxhanski
• nestisbox

Italian

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, from English box, variously clipped (in the meaning "horsebox") or with transferred senses.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔks/
• Rhymes: -ɔks
• Hyphenation: bòx

Noun

box m (invariable)

1. horsebox
2. (automotive) garage, lock-up
3. (motor racing) pit
4. playpen

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βῶξ (bôx).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈboːks/, [ˈboːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈboks/, [ˈbɔks]

Noun

bōx m (genitive bōcis); third declension

1. a kind of marine fish

Declension

Third-declension noun.

References

• “box”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "box", 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)
• box in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• boxe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔks/
• Rhymes: -ɔks

Etymology 1

From Old English box, from Proto-West Germanic *buhs, borrowed from Latin buxus.

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. box tree (the tree Buxus sempervirens)
2. the wood of this tree; boxwood

Descendants

• English: box

References

• “box, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old English box, from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā, borrowed from Late Latin buxis, borrowed from Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís), from πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos) + -ις (-is).

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. A cylindrical jar.
2. A case, container or strongbox.
3. A bloodletting cup.
4. (anatomy) The socket of a joint.

Descendants

• English: box (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: box

Etymology 3

Unknown; see English box (“blow with the fist”) for more.

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. box (a blow with the fist)

Descendants

• English: box (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: box

References

• “box, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “box, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /boks/

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *buhs, borrowed from Latin buxus.

Noun

box m

1. box tree

Declension

Strong a-stem:

Descendants

• Middle English: box
  • English: box

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *buhsā, borrowed from Late Latin buxis, borrowed from Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís), from πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos) + -ις (-is).

Noun

box m

1. box

Declension

Strong a-stem:

Derived terms

Descendants

• Middle English: box
  • English: box (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: box

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• boxe (prescriptive)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English box.

Pronunciation

Noun

box (Brazil) m or (Portugal) f (plural boxes) (proscribed)

1. stall (for a horse)
2. electronic equipment used for internet access (component of the digital subscriber line technology)
3. (Brazil) shower stall; area of a bathroom, separated by a curtain or panes, where the shower is located
   • 2003, Eileen G. de Paiva e Mello, Questão de Tempo, Thesaurus Editora, page 150:

Derived terms

• encostar às boxes

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboks/
• Rhymes: -oks

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French boxe.

Noun

box n (plural boxuri)

1. (sports) boxing (the sport of)

   Synonyms: pugilat, pugilism, pugilistică

2. a kind of sword

Etymology 2

From French box.

Noun

box

1. bovine leather

Etymology 3

Noun

box

1. a breed of bulldog

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English box. Doublet of buje.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboɡs/ [ˈboɣ̞s]
• Rhymes: -oɡs
• Syllabification: box

Noun

box m (plural boxes)

1. (motor racing) pit
2. (sports) box
3. (Mexico, Cono Sur) boxing (sport)

   Synonym: boxeo

Derived terms

Further reading

• “box”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Homophone: bocks

Noun

box c

1. a box, crate; a cuboid container
2. (somewhat dated) a box (blow with the fist)

Declension

Derived terms

• frysbox
• kylbox
• postbox

References

• box in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• box in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• box in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)