An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

The Compass Box. A faint constellation in the southern hemisphere, at 9h right ascension, 30° south declination, representing a mariner’s compass. Its brightest star, Alpha Pyxidis, is magnitude 3.7. Abbreviation: Pyx; genitive: Pyxidis.

Etymology (EN): L. pyxis, from Gk. pyxis “box.”

Etymology (PE): Qotbnamâ literally “pole indicator,” from qotb, → pole,

• namâ “displayer, indicator,” from nemudan “to show” (Mid.Pers. nimūdan, nimây- “to show,” from O.Pers./Av. ni- “down; into” (Skt. ni “down,” nitaram “downward,” Gk. neiothen “from below,” cf. E. nether, O.E. niþera, neoþera “down, downward, below, beneath,” from P.Gmc. *nitheraz,
  Du. neder, Ger. nieder; PIE *ni- “down, below”) + māy- “to measure;” cf. Skt. mati “measures,” matra- “measure;”
  Gk. metron “measure;” L. metrum; PIE base *me- “to measure”).