fax

fax · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*peḱ-
2. Proto-Indo-European*poḱsom
3. Proto-Germanic*fahsą
4. Proto-West Germanic*fahs
5. Old Englishfeax
6. Middle Englishfax
7. English todayfax

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”).

fax · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
2. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁k-
3. Proto-Indo-European*dʰh₁kyéti
4. Proto-Italic*θakjō
5. Proto-Italic*fakjō
6. Latinfacio
7. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
8. Proto-Indo-European*sem-h₂-lo-
9. Proto-Italic*semalis
10. Latinsimilis
11. Latinfac simile
12. Englishfacsimileclip.
13. English todayfax

Clipping of facsimile. The use of the noun first appears c. 1946. The verb first appears c. 1979.

fax · noun, interjection³

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

Words from the same roots