entry
fix
/fɪks/Fasten, repair, settle, or obtain a dose
From Proto-Indo-European, through Latin and Old French fix (to pierce).
from PIE root *dheigw- "to pierce, stick in;" hence "to fix, fasten." Sense of "fasten, attach" is c. 1400; that of "to...
from Latin fixus "fixed, fast, immovable; established, settled," past-participle adjective
+1 more sourcefrom Old French *fixer (attested only as ficher, fichier; > English fitch)
from Middle English fixen, borrowed
Word Ancestry
from PIE root *dheigw- "to pierce, stick in;" hence "to fix, fasten." Sense of "fasten, attach" is c. 1400; that of "to...
from Latin fixus "fixed, fast, immovable; established, settled," past-participle adjective
+1 more sourcefrom Old French *fixer (attested only as ficher, fichier; > English fitch)
from Middle English fixen, borrowed
Imagine the original physical gesture: driving something sharply into place so it cannot move. Latin fīgō meant “I fasten” or “I drive in,” while its participle fīxus described anything made immovable; from that sturdy Latin nail-and-thunderbolt idea came Old French fixer and eventually Middle English fixen. The word later loosened its grip and began fixing less literal problems: by the 1660s it could mean “arrange” or “settle,” and by 1737 it meant “repair.” There is a darker twist too: the related verb crucify contains the same Latin figere, because crucifixion literally meant fastening someone to a cross. In American English, a “fix” can now be a repair, a rigged outcome, or a dose of an addictive drug—different situations, same ancient instinct: put something firmly in place, whether it is a broken machine, a crooked contest, or a craving.
The Story
Imagine the original physical gesture: driving something sharply into place so it cannot move. Latin fīgō meant “I fasten” or “I drive in,” while its participle fīxus described anything made immovable; from that sturdy Latin nail-and-thunderbolt idea came Old French fixer and eventually Middle English fixen. The word later loosened its grip and began fixing less literal problems: by the 1660s it could mean “arrange” or “settle,” and by 1737 it meant “repair.” There is a darker twist too: the related verb crucify contains the same Latin figere, because crucifixion literally meant fastening someone to a cross. In American English, a “fix” can now be a repair, a rigged outcome, or a dose of an addictive drug—different situations, same ancient instinct: put something firmly in place, whether it is a broken machine, a crooked contest, or a craving.
Modern Usage
A dose of an addictive drug, especially heroin; also to prepare or seek such a dose.
Kin & Kindred
From 'fix'·to pierce, stick in, fasten
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary