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"box" in seven languages

Meaningbox

Spanish

caja

/ˈkaxa/

fem.other source · Catalan caixa or Occitan caissa, from Latin CAPSA 'case'

French

boîte

/bwat/

fem.inherited

Italian

scatola

/ˈskatola/

fem.other source · of uncertain origin (perhaps Germanic)

Portuguese

caixa

/ˈkajʃɐ/

fem.other source · Latin CAPSA 'case', probably by way of Catalan caixa

Romanian

cutie

/kuˈtie/

fem.other source · Turkish kutu 'box'

Catalan

capsa

/ˈkapsə/

fem.other source · Latin CAPSA 'case'

Catalan also has caixa, the larger box — the word Spanish caja was borrowed from.

English

box

/bɑks/

from Latin/French · Late Latin BUXIS (Old English box)

English → ItalianboxscatolaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: pyx; case, capsule, cash (CAPSA, es).What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

*BUXITAM‘little box (Late Latin PYXIDA, Greek pyxís 'boxwood box')’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

French boîte and English box both go back to Greek pyxís, a box made of boxwood; the circumflex marks the s of Old French boiste. Spanish caja is Latin CAPSA, the source of English case.

English relatives: pyx; case, capsule, cash (CAPSA, es)

Sound laws at work

French loses S before a consonant (^)

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esMe regaló una caja de bombones.
  • frIl m'a offert une boîte de chocolats.
  • itMi ha regalato una scatola di cioccolatini.
  • ptEle me deu uma caixa de bombons.
  • roMi-a dat o cutie de bomboane.
  • caEm va regalar una capsa de bombons.
  • enHe gave me a box of chocolates.

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