Buxus
/ˈbʌk.səs/noun
A genus of evergreen shrubs and small trees commonly called boxwood.
Did you know?The Latin *buxus* was borrowed from Greek *pyxos*, and the same root also gave English *box*—first the container, then the tree that made it.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰewg- / *bʰug-
“A proposed ancient root associated with beech or box-like hard woods”
Ancient Greek
Greek
πύξος (pyxos)
“Box tree; boxwood”
Classical Latin
Latin
buxus
“Box tree; boxwood”
Late Latin
Latin
buxum
“Boxwood; also the material made from it”
Old French
Old French
bois
“Wood; boxwood in some inherited forms”
Modern English
English
buxus
“A genus name for boxwood plants”