The Etymology of Fix
Fix entered Middle English around 1400 from Old French fixer, both rooted in Latin figere, to fasten or drive in (a stake, a nail, anything pointed). The original English sense was simply to fasten in place — a meaning still active in fixed star, fixed point, fixed income. From there the word generated a remarkable range of senses: to fix one’s eyes (1660s), to fix a meal (American, 1737, by way of fixing things in their place on the stove), to fix a horse race (corruptly arrange the outcome, 1790), and to be in a fix, in trouble (1809). The Latin figere also lies behind crucifix (literally fastened to a cross), affix, prefix, suffix, and transfix — all preserve the root image of something pinned, pierced, or fastened down. Few short English verbs cover so much semantic territory from a single physical metaphor.