English
pax
Pax comes from Latin pāx ‘peace’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ‘to join, to attach’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ḱ-‘to join, to attach’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂ḱ-s‘peace’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pāks‘peace’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāx‘peace’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pax‘kiss of peace’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599pax
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ḱ-‘to join, to attach’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂ḱ-s‘peace’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pāks‘peace’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāx‘peace’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pax‘kiss of peace’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599pax
Earliest quotation: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “Fortune is Bardolphs foe, and frownes on him: for…”
The story
As school slang, originally used at Winchester College, Hampshire, in the United Kingdom.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ‘to join, to attach’
fair, fang, fay, pact, gaffe, 8 more
through Latin pāx ‘peace’
Today it means
noun A painted, stamped or carved tablet with a representation of Christ or the Virgin Mary, which was kissed by the priest during the Mass ("kiss of peace") and then passed to other officiating clergy and the congregation to be kissed. See also osculatory.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.