-x
- Used to represent a value that may vary: seex.
I teach all of the 30x classes.(referring to classes numbered 301, 302, 303, etc.)
The letterx is prototypically pronounced[ks] in English; it therefore serves as a convenient shorthand for the digraphs (cs,ks, etc.) or trigraphs (cks etc.) that would otherwise represent that consonant cluster.
-x
- (chiefly US, informal)Used to replace a/ks/ sound, especially in monosyllabic words ending in-cks or-ks.
blax(“blacks”),clox(“clocks”),fax(“facts”),folx(“folks”),hax(“hacks”),pix(“pics”),punx(“punks”),snax(“snacks”),sox(“socks”),stix(“sticks”),tix(“tickets”),trax(“tracks”)
-x
- An abbreviation marker.
Dx(“diagnosis”),elex(“election”),Hx(“history”),pax(“passenger”),RX(“receive”),TX(“transmit”)
From the use ofx as a neutral or nonspecificplaceholder.
-x
- (neologism)Used to replace a gendered suffix.
- alumnx,Chicanx,Latinx
From a medieval ligature for-us, which looked similar to the letterx and was ultimately treated as identical to it. ThusOld Frenchvoyeus(“vowel”) was also speltvoyex, for instance. Later on, theu was reinserted before the-x and this latter thus became an alternative spelling of-s in said position.[1]
This use of-x and particularly the irregularities in its application, which developed over time, have been criticized by grammarians for centuries, but no reform has ever been enacted. The most recentspelling reform of 1990 did not touch the matter either.
- Silent, except in liaison environments, when it may be pronounced/z‿/. This liaison is usual in adjectives, but fairly rare in nouns.
-x
- Used to form the regular plurals of nouns and adjectives in -au and -eu.
- dieu → dieux ―god → gods
- noyau → noyaux ―core → cores
- hébreu → hébreux ―Hebrew → Hebrews
- Used to form the irregular plurals of a few nouns in -ou (which regularly add-s).
- pou → poux ―louse → lice
-x gender-neutral (noun-forming suffix,plural-xor-xsor-z)
- (neologism, gender-neutral, nonstandard)forms the gender-neutral of adjectives and nouns
- étudiant + -x → étudianx
- ami + -x → amix
FromArabicشَيْء(šayʔ,“thing”). The same negation suffix is found in most North African and some Levantine dialects of Arabic.
-x
- Used together with the particlema to negate verbs and adverbs
- jikteb → ma jiktibx ―he writes → he doesn’t write
- Used on its own or with the particlela to express a negated imperative
- tikteb → tiktibx or:la tiktibx ―you write →don't write
- A suffixed-x, etymologically from the same Arabic noun as the above, also occurs in a handful of Maltese words without a negative meaning, e.g.kollox(“everything”),aktarx(“rather, probably”),jekkx(“whether”).
Borrowed fromEnglish-x.
-x n (noun-forming suffix,plural-xs)
- (now chiefly proscribed)a gender-neutral, normally not pronounced suffix that replaces-o and-a in nouns, adjectives and pronouns
- Synonym:-e
- Somos todxs um. ―We are all one.
- As gender-neutral suffixes,@ and-x have been gradually displaced by-e, considered easier for users of text-to-speech and people with reading disorders.
-x gender-neutral (noun-forming suffix,plural-xs)
- (nonstandard, neologism)a gender-neutral suffix that replaces-o and-a in nouns, adjectives and pronouns
