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Origin and history of lox

lox(n.)

1934, American English, from Yiddish laks, from Middle High German lahs "salmon," from Proto-Germanic *lakhs-, from the common IE root for the fish, *laks- (source also of Lithuanian lašiša, Russian losos, Polish łosoś "salmon").

also from 1934

Entries linking to lox

lax(n.)

"salmon," from Old English leax (see lox). Cognate with Middle Dutch lacks, German Lachs, Danish laks, etc.; according to OED the English word was obsolete except in the north and Scotland from 17c., reintroduced in reference to Scottish or Norwegian salmon.

salmon(n.)

early 13c., samoun, the North Atlantic salmon, from Anglo-French samoun, Old French salmun (Modern French saumon), from Latin salmonem (nominative salmo) "a salmon," probably originally "leaper," from salire "to leap" (see salient (adj.)), though some dismiss this as folk etymology. Another theory traces the Latin word to Celtic.

Thompson ["Glossary of Greek Fishes"] writes that "The Salmon does not enter the Mediterranean. It is not mentioned by any Greek author, nor by any Latin writer except those two" [Pliny and Ausonius].

It replaced Old English læx, from PIE *lax, the more usual word for the fish (see lox). The classical -l- was restored in English from 16c., though Scott still uses saumon. In reference to a pinkish-orange color like that of the flesh of the fish, it is recorded by 1786. Related: Salmonic.

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    lac
    Still another guess is that Sanskrit laksha is related to English lax, lox "salmon," and the substance perhaps was so called...
    lynx
    Chaucer's "Boethius," c. 1380] Cognates probably are Lithuanian lūšis "lynx," Old High German luhs, German luchs, Old English lox...
    O
    fifteenth letter of the alphabet, from a character that in Phoenician was called 'ain (literally "eye") and represented "a very peculiar and to us unpronounceable guttural" [Century Dictionary]. The Greeks also lacked the sound, so when they adopted the Phoenician letters th
    oxygen
    gaseous chemical element, 1790, from French oxygène, coined in 1777 by French chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794), from Greek oxys "sharp, acid" (from PIE root *ak- "be sharp, rise (out) to a point, pierce") + French -gène "something that produces" (from Greek -genēs "f
    liquid
    late 14c., "flowing, capable of flowing; neither solid nor gaseous," from Old French liquide "liquid, running" (13c.), from Latin liquidus "fluid, liquid, moist," figuratively "flowing, continuing," also of sounds and voices, from liquere "be fluid," related to liqui "to melt, fl
    persuasion
    late 14c., persuasioun, "action of inducing (someone) to believe (something) by appeals to reason (not by authority, force, or fear); an argument to persuade, inducement," from Old French persuasion (14c.) and directly from Latin persuasionem (nominative persuasio) "a convincing,
    admonish
    mid-14c., amonesten "remind, urge, exhort, warn, give warning," from Old French amonester "urge, encourage, warn" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *admonestare, from Latin admonere "bring to mind, remind (of a debt);" also "warn, advise, urge," from ad "to," here probably with frequenta
    tutor
    late 14c., "guardian, custodian," from Old French tuteor "guardian, private teacher" (13c., Modern French tuteur), from Latin tutorem (nominative tutor) "guardian, watcher," from tutus, variant past participle of tueri "watch over, look at," a word of uncertain origin. De Vaan su
    Jehovah
    1530, Tyndale's transliteration of Hebrew Tetragrammaton YHWH using vowel points of Adhonai "my lord" (see Yahweh). Used for YHWH (the full name being too sacred for utterance) in four places in the Old Testament in the KJV where the usual translation the lord would have been inc
    redeem
    early 15c., redemen, "buy back, ransom, recover by purchase," also in a theological sense, "deliver from sin and spiritual death," from Old French redimer "buy back" and directly from Latin redimere "to redeem, buy back," from red- "back" (see re-) + emere "to take, buy, gain, pr

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