Fax
1940s: abbreviation of facsimile.
wiktionary
From Middle English fax, from Old English feax(“hair, head of hair”), from Proto-West Germanic *fahs, from Proto-Germanic *fahsą(“hair, mane”), from Proto-Indo-European *poḱsom(“hair”, literally “that which is combed, shorn, or plucked”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ-(“to comb, shear, pluck”). Cognate with Dutch vas(“headhair”), German Fachs(“head-hair”), Norwegian faks(“mane”), Icelandic fax(“mane”), Sanskrit पक्ष्मन्(pákṣman, “eyelash, hair, filament”).
Clipping of facsimile, first attested 1979.
etymonline
fax (n.)
1948, in reference to the technology, short for facsimile(telegraphy). Meaning "a facsimile transmission" is by 1980. The verb attested by 1970. Related: Faxed; faxing.
Futurists predict that a "fax" terminal in the house or business office may someday complement or even replace the mail-carrier. [Scientific American, 1972]
