- box (n.1.)
- O.E. box "a wooden container," also "type of shrub," from L.L. buxis, from Gk. pyxis "boxwood box," from pyxos "box tree," of uncertain origin. Ger. Büchse also is a Latin loan word. Slang meaning "vulva" is attested 17c., according to "Dictionary of American Slang;" modern use seems to date from c.WWII, perhaps originally Australian, and on notion of "box of tricks." Boxy is attested from 1861. Box office is 1786; in the figurative sense of "financial element of a performance" it is first recorded 1904.
- box (n.2.)
- "a blow," c.1300, of uncertain origin, possibly related to M.Du. boke, M.H.G. buc and Dan. bask, all meaning "a blow," perhaps imitative. The verb meaning "to fight with the fists" is from 1560s. Boxing as a sport is first recorded 1711.