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Added 7 October 2026

wax

/waks/ symbol

In Latin: cēra Wiktionary

symbol Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about wax at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

ISO 639-3 language code for Watam.

noun

Any oily, water-resistant, solid or semisolid substance; normally long-chain hydrocarbons, alcohols or esters.
Beeswax (a wax secreted by bees).
Earwax (a wax secreted by the ears).
What role does the wax in your earhole fulfill?

adjective

Made of wax.

verb

To coat with wax or a similar material.
waxed silk
To form a wax (a thick maple syrup).

Origin

From Middle English wax, from Old English weax, from Proto-Germanic *wahsą, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *woḱ-so-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Woaks (“wax”), West Frisian waaks (“wax”), Dutch was (“wax”), German Wachs (“wax”), German Low German Wass (“wax”), Luxembourgish Wuess (“wax”), Vilamovian wāhs (“wax”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk voks (“wax”), Faroese vaks (“wax”), Icelandic, Swedish vax (“wax”); and with Lithuanian vaškas (“wax”), Proto-Slavic *voskъ (“wax”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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