caixa

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin capsa. Doublet of capsa. Compare Occitan caissa and Sicilian cascia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈka.ʃə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [ˈkaj.ʃa]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

caixa f (plural caixes)

1. box
2. (finance) savings bank
   • 2019, “Sento”, in Energia fosca, performed by El Petit de Cal Eril:

     Coses inútils com les caixes o els bancs / Coses terribles com les bales o els tancs

     Useless things like boxes or banks / Terrible things like bullets or tanks

3. (woodworking) mortise

Usage notes

• There is a semantic difference in the usage of caixa and capsa according to their size. Boxes larger than a shoebox are usually called caixa, while boxes smaller than a shoebox (e.g. for matches, confectionery, pills) are capsa.

Derived terms

• caixa forta
• caixa i metxa
• caixa negra
• caixa o faixa

 

Related terms

• capsa f

Descendants

• → Asturian: caxa
• → Leonese: caixa
• → Old Galician-Portuguese: cajxa
  • Galician: caixa
  • Portuguese: caixa
• → Old Spanish: caxa
  • Spanish: caja
• → Sardinian: cascia
• → Sicilian: cascia

Further reading

• “caixa” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “caixa” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “caixa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese cajxa~qajxa (compare Portuguese caixa), probably borrowed from Catalan caixa, from Latin capsa. Compare Spanish caja.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkajʃa̝/

Noun

caixa f (plural caixas)

1. box
   • 1426, A. López Ferreiro (ed.), Historia de la Santa A. M. Iglesia de Santiago de Compostela, XI, nº Adicións-1.1, pages 79-92:

     iten outras duas cruzes; a hua pequena, en que esta lyno domini, cuberta de follas douro, que adoran esta feyra mayor, et esta gardada en hua cayxa de madeyro; et a outra cruz mays grande, en que esta haun cruçifiçio con duas omajees, et dous escudos de armas de bendaña, et outros dous escudos con dous leoos, et o pee byrtado dela, et he toda de prata dourada

     item, two more crosses: a small one, in which is "lyno domini", covered with gold leaf, that they adore this major feast, and is kept in a wooden box; another larger cross, in which is a crucifix with two images, and two coat of arms of the Bendaña family, and another two coats with two lions, and its foot is broken, and is made of gilded silver

2. coffin

   Synonyms: ataúde, cadaleito, féretro

3. (music) drum

   Synonym: tambor

4. cash desk
5. cash box, cash register
6. gearbox
7. savings bank

Derived terms

• caixón
• encaixar

Related terms

• couso
• cousela
• couselo
• queixo (“chin”)
• requeixo

References

• “cajxa” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “caixa” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “caixa” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “caixa” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese cajxa~qajxa, probably borrowed from Catalan caixa, from Latin capsa. Compare Sicilian cascia, Spanish caja.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaj.ʃɐ/ [ˈkaɪ̯.ʃɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaj.ʃɐ/ [ˈkaɪ̯.ʃɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaj.ʃa/ [ˈkaɪ̯.ʃa]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkaj.ʃɐ/

• Audio (Oporto, Portugal)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ajʃɐ
• Hyphenation: cai‧xa

Noun

caixa f (plural caixas)

1. box
2. (music) snare drum

   Synonym: tarola

Derived terms

• caixão
• caixa-negra

Noun

caixa m or f by sense (plural caixas)

1. cashier (one who works at a till handling payments)

   Synonym: caixeiro

   Aquele caixa trabalha bem. ― That cashier works well.

Noun

caixa m (plural caixas)

1. ledger
2. a cash register and the counter upon which it resides

References

• “caixa” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024.
• “caixa” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.
• The Oxford Paperback Portuguese Dictionary, 1996