fix
pronunciation
How to pronounce fix in British English:
UK [fɪks]
How to pronounce fix in American English:
US [fɪks]
-
- Noun:
- informal terms for a difficult situation
- something craved, especially an intravenous injection of a narcotic drug
- the act of putting something in working order again
- an exemption granted after influence (e.g., money) is brought to bear
- a determination of the location of something
-
- Verb:
- restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken
- cause to be firmly attached
- decide upon or fix definitely
- prepare for eating by applying heat
- take vengeance on or get even
- set or place definitely
- kill, preserve, and harden (tissue) in order to prepare for microscopic study
- make fixed, stable or stationary
- make infertile
- put (something somewhere) firmly
- make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc
Word Origin
- fix
- fix: [15] Fix comes ultimately from Latin fīgere ‘fasten’. Its past participle fīxus made its way into English along two distinct routes, partly via the Old French adjective fix ‘fixed’, and partly via the medieval Latin verb fīxāre. Derived forms in English include affix [15], prefix [17], suffix [18], and transfix [16], and also fichu ‘scarf’ [19]: this came from the past participle of French ficher ‘attach’, which is descended from Vulgar Latin *figicāre, another derivative of figere.=> affix, prefix, suffix, transfix
- fix (v.)
- late 14c., "set (one's eyes or mind) on something" (a figurative use), probably from Old French verb *fixer, from fixe "fixed," from Latin fixus "fixed, fast, immovable; established, settled," past participle adjective from figere "to fix, fasten, drive, thrust in; pierce through, transfix," also figurative, from PIE root *dhigw- "to stick, to fix" (see dike). Sense of "fasten, attach" is c. 1400; that of "to make (colors, etc.) fast or permanent" is from 1660s. The meaning "settle, assign" evolved into "adjust, arrange" (1660s), then "repair" (1737). Sense of "tamper with" (a fight, a jury, etc.) is from 1790. As euphemism for "castrate a pet" it dates from 1930. Related: Fixed; fixing.
- fix (n.)
- "position from which it is difficult to move," 1809, American English, from fix (v.). Meaning "dose of narcotic" is from 1934, shortened from fix-up (1867, originally in reference to liquor). Meaning "reliable indication of the position of a ship, plane, etc." (by reference to fixed positions) is from 1902.
Example
- 1. The next room shows how plumbers fix water pipes .
- 2. The person who builds it has the skills to fix it .
- 3. Apple also said it required wintek to fix the ventilation system .
- 4. The doors are almost broken and nobody is going to fix them .
- 5. One firefighter drowned in the crude while trying to fix an underwater pump .