Buxus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A genus of small, evergreen shrubs prized for their slow growth and adaptability in formal gardens and landscapes
2. A group of compact evergreen plants commonly cultivated for ornamental garden design and sculptural hedging
3. A genus featuring dense, slow-growing shrubs valued for their use in traditional garden layouts and topiary work

Etymology: Boxwood has been known to gardeners for centuries, but the Latin name it was given, "buxus," was once borrowed by the Greeks as "pyxos," and the Greek word for the wood's small containers gave English its word "box." The Greek "pyxis" meant a small box, and it came from "pyxos," the boxwood tree, because boxwood was a favorite material for such containers. So the chain runs from the tree to the box made of its wood, and then the word for the box took over the English name for the plant's wood and eventually the tree itself. The Latin "buxus" kept the tree's name in the Roman world, and it entered English through Latin botanical and classical writing. Early English speakers used "box" for the tree long before "buxus" was used in formal botanical contexts, which is why the Latin form survives mainly in scientific names such as the genus name for these plants.

Synonyms: boxwood