Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗noun
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryAbbreviation of hugs and kisses, usually placed at the end of a letter.
From use of X/x to mean “kiss” and O/o to mean “hug”. Use of “X” to indicate a kiss attested since 1763, preceded by medieval use of an “X”, which was then kissed by illiterates to indicate a signature. Use of “O” is more recent, and presumably created by analogy (e.g., X/O in tic-tac-toe). Speculative theories on precise origins abound, including folk etymologies.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
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[
"X",
"X"
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[
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[
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],
[
"O",
"O"
],
[
"o",
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],
[
"hug",
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],
[
"tic-tac-toe",
"tic-tac-toe#English"
],
[
"folk etymologies",
"folk etymology"
]
],
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"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"Abbreviation of hugs and kisses, usually placed at the end of a letter."
],
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