Meanings
nounearwax (usually uncountable, plural earwaxes)
plural earwaxes · alternative ear wax · alternative ear-wax
- uncountableusuallymedicineA waxy substance secreted by the ear.
Her's Agamemnon, an honeſt fellow inough and one that loues quailes, but hee has not ſo much braine as eare-wax, […]
c. 1602, William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. Excellently Expressing the Beginning of their Loues, with the Conceited Wooing of Pandarus, Prince of Licia, London: Imprinted by G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, and are to be sold at the spred Eagle in Paules Church-yeard, ouer against the great North doore, published 1609, →OCLC, act V, scene 1
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englisherewax
- Englishearwax
From Middle English erewax, from ere + wax. Equivalent to ear + wax.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans oorsmeer
- oorsmeerwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Arabic صِمْلَاخ, شَمْع اَلْأُذْن
- صِمْلَاخ (ṣimlāḵ)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- شَمْع اَلْأُذْن (šamʕ al-ʔuḏn)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Bengali কানের খৈল
- কানের খৈল (kaner khōil)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Bulgarian ушна кал
- ушна кал (ušna kal)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Catalan cerumen, cera de les orelles
- cerumenwaxy substance secreted by the ear
- cera de les orelleswaxy substance secreted by the ear
Chinese Cantonese 耳屎, 耳垢
- 耳屎 (ji⁵ si²)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- 耳垢 (ji⁵ gau³)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- 耵聹 /耵聍 (ding¹ ning⁴)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Chinese Mandarin 耳屎, 耳垢
- 耳屎 (ěrshǐ)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- 耳垢 (ěrgòu)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- 耵聹 /耵聍 (dīngníng)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Czech ušní maz
- ušní mazwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Danish ørevoks
- ørevokswaxy substance secreted by the ear
Dutch oorsmeer, cerumen
- oorsmeerwaxy substance secreted by the ear
- cerumenwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Esperanto orelvakso, cerumeno
- orelvaksowaxy substance secreted by the ear
- cerumenowaxy substance secreted by the ear
Estonian vaik, kõrvavaik
- vaikwaxy substance secreted by the ear
- kõrvavaikwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Finnish vaikku, korvavaha
- vaikkuwaxy substance secreted by the ear
- korvavahawaxy substance secreted by the ear
French cérumen
- cérumenwaxy substance secreted by the ear
German Ohrenschmalz, Zerumen
- Ohrenschmalzwaxy substance secreted by the ear
- Zerumenwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Greek κυψελίδα, κερί
- κυψελίδα (kypselída)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- κερί (kerí)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Hawaiian kokuli
- kokuliwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Hindi ठेक, खोंठ
- ठेक (ṭhek)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- खोंठ (khõṭh)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- खूँट (khū̃ṭ)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- कान का मैल (kān kā mail)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- खुँट (khũṭ)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- कनोई (kanoī)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- कर्णमल (karṇamal)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- पेंजूष (peñjūṣ)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- पिंजूष (piñjūṣ)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- कार्ण (kārṇ)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- तोक्म (tokma)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- ठेँठी (ṭhẽṭhī)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Hungarian fülzsír
- fülzsírwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Icelandic eyrnamergur
- eyrnamergurwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Indonesian serumen, kotoran telinga
- serumenwaxy substance secreted by the ear
- kotoran telingawaxy substance secreted by the ear
- tahi telingawaxy substance secreted by the ear
Irish céir chluaise
- céir chluaisewaxy substance secreted by the ear
Italian cerume
- cerumewaxy substance secreted by the ear
Japanese 耳垢, 耳糞
- 耳垢waxy substance secreted by the ear
- 耳糞 (mimikuso)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- 耳屎 (mimikuso)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- 耳垢 (mimiaka)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- 耳ん垢 (mimingo)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Korean 귀지, 귀에지
- 귀지 (gwiji)waxy substance secreted by the ear
- 귀에지 (gwieji)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Latvian sērs, auss sērs
- sērswaxy substance secreted by the ear
- auss sērswaxy substance secreted by the ear
Malay tahi telinga
- tahi telingawaxy substance secreted by the ear
Māori taeturi, tāturi
- taeturiwaxy substance secreted by the ear
- tāturiwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Norwegian Bokmål ørevoks
- ørevokswaxy substance secreted by the ear
Polish woskowina, woszczyna
- woskowinawaxy substance secreted by the ear
- woszczynawaxy substance secreted by the ear
Portuguese cera de ouvido, cera
- cera de ouvidowaxy substance secreted by the ear
- cerawaxy substance secreted by the ear
Romanian ceară de urechi
- ceară de urechiwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Russian ушна́я се́ра
- ушна́я се́ра (ušnája séra)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Scottish Gaelic cèir-chluaise
- cèir-chluaisewaxy substance secreted by the ear
Spanish cerumen, cerilla
- cerumenwaxy substance secreted by the ear
- cerillawaxy substance secreted by the ear
- cerawaxy substance secreted by the ear
- cera de los oídoswaxy substance secreted by the ear
Swahili nta za sikio
- nta za sikiowaxy substance secreted by the ear
Swedish öronvax
- öronvaxwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Tagalog tutuli
- tutuliwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Tamil குறும்பி
- குறும்பி (kuṟumpi)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Thai ขี้หู
- ขี้หู (kîi-hǔu)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Ukrainian вушна́ сі́ра
- вушна́ сі́ра (vušná síra)waxy substance secreted by the ear
Vietnamese ráy, ráy tai
- ráywaxy substance secreted by the ear
- ráy taiwaxy substance secreted by the ear
- cứt ráywaxy substance secreted by the ear
Welsh cŵyr clustiau
- cŵyr clustiauwaxy substance secreted by the ear
Cite this entry
APA
earwax. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earwax
MLA
“earwax.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earwax. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “earwax,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earwax.
Source: earwax on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.