It notes that Latin cera, the substance wax, comes from the same root as Latin cresco, "to grow", which might support a parallel relation in Proto-Germanic the substance wax would then be "what grows slowly", as the bees add to it incrementally (yes, increment comes from Latin cresco). The great Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal ( article Was (II) from 1988) mentions both origins and says the matter is still undecided. The Proto-Indo-European root would then be **weg-/ we-, "weave".
819), is undecided about the etymology of the substance wax (Dutch was, which is indisputably cognate) and gives Proto-Germanic * wahsa as a possible origin, related to English weave. However, a Dutch etymological dictionary, De Vries ( 4rd edition, 1997, p. It is related to augment, which has come to us through Latin augeo, "to increase", and to Greek auxô, also "to increase". Other dictionaries render this form as * owegs- or * awegs. This is the same construction as when you grow old: old and philosophical are best considered subject complements, which is why they are adjectives, not adverbs.Īccording to, both come from the Proto-Germanic verb * wakhsan, "to increase, grow", which in turn comes from Proto-Indo-European * wegs-, an extended form of the base * aug-, "to increase".
So I was wondering three things: What is the canonical definition of wax as its being used here? In what other ways can you wax? Finally, if wax is acting as a verb here, why is it philosophical, as an adjective, and not philosophically as an adverb?Īs I understand it, to wax means to grow: if you wax philosophical, you grow philosophical, which probably means you become philosophically-minded, at least for the moment, and you occupy yourself with philosophical thoughts. It seems fairly archaic the philosophical isn't even in the standard canonical form of an adverb, with no ending "–ly".
#WAX POETIC UK HOW TO#
The truth is, I only know how to use this set phrase, and can't really break it down into its constituents. So is waxing philosophical "growing philosophical"? Sounds pretty strange to me. Neither is, I think, the wax in "wax philosophical" referring to another sense of wax, as in to grow, and which I know best in reference to the Moon "waxing and waning" it means, as best I know, that the Moon is shrinking and growing in size. Its wax is obviously not the ordinary definition of wax, which my dictionary summarizes as an "oily, water-resistant substance", a definition which also serves as a fair summary of other, closely related "waxes", as in earwax or beeswax. The wax in the phrase "wax philosophical" is a pretty strange bird.
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