fax

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

Translingual

Symbol

fax

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Fala.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Fala terms

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 (rare) faxxes)

2. Ellipsis of fax machine: the device for faxing; the medium of communication that it provides.

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 (rare) faxxes, present participle faxing or (rare) faxxing, simple past and past participle faxed or (rare) faxxed)

1. To send a document via a fax machine.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Formed with -x from facts; the pronunciation of facts and fax is identical in certain varieties of English.

Noun

fax pl (plural only)

1. (informal) Nonstandard form of facts.

   Synonym: trufax

Interjection

fax

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

   Synonyms: fax, no printer; trufax; tru dat; true dat; true that

See also

• 📠

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. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. 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 Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

Icelandic

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Inherited 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

Borrowed 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 Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈfaks/, [ˈfäks]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfaks/, [ˈfäks]

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
• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “fax”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive
• "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)

Further reading

• “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
• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “fax”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive
• "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): /ˈfaks/
• 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 [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

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