An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Büchse

by Friedrich Kluge

Büchse, feminine, ‘box, pot, jar, rifle,’ from Middle High German bühse, ‘box, magic-box, firelock’; Old High German buhsa, from *buhsja, from Greek πυξίς, ‘a box of boxwood (πύξος), medicine-box.’ The Greek medical art was in vogue in the Middle Ages among all civilised nations, consequently some Greek medical terms found their way into German. See Arzt, Pflaster. Compare Anglo-Saxon and English box, Italian bossolo, French bossette, ‘box.’