English
pox
Pox comes from Middle English pocke.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pocke
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605pox
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pocke
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605pox
Earliest quotation: c. 1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All’s Well, that Ends Well: “A pox on him, he's a cat still.”
The story
The curse sense involves metonymy: wishing a literal pox upon someone is the original form of pox-relevant curse, and the word pox itself also came to mean curse.
Every English word from Middle English pocke
Today it means
noun A disease characterized by skin eruptions (especially purulent ones) that may leave pockmarks.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English pocke / pox