The variable name comes from usage in Spain, as up to the 16th century ⟨x⟩ had the sound value /ʃ/ in Spanish, so was used to transcribe Arabicش(š) used for the purpose of a variable as an abbreviation of شَيْء(šayʔ, “thing”).[1] Its sound value in Spanish has since then become /x/, which explains the decision made in the circle of the International Phonetic Association to assign this character to the voiceless velar fricative. Compare Englishhickey(“an object whose name is not recalled; bruise-like mark made during petting by pressing the mouth to the skin”) for the development of the sense of a communicated kiss.
2010, Tri "Slowhabit" Nguyen, Martin Harris, Advanced PLO Play (in English), page 53:
Although my opponent will have 4xxx[i.e. a 4 and three other cards] frequently, I have to stack off occasionally to avoid being exploited in this spot.
A kiss at the end of a letter, or similar missive.
2009 September 8, tammy martinez, “God bless u!”, in cir-b-ksa (Usenet; in Spanish), retrieved 2014-10-26:
Que DIOS te bendiga, xoxo
GOD bless you xoxo
2010 September 4, pap...@yahoo.com, “Re: Sortido”, in Medicina UFRJ Turma 1970 (Usenet; in Portuguese), retrieved 2014-10-26:
Pratinha te amo, te amo...XOXO luizbola
Parinha I love you, I love you...XOXO luizbola
2012, Amanda Jennings, Sworn Secret (in English):
i love you :)!xxx. She pressed send and stared at him. She giggled when he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
2012, Maya Rodale, Geheimes Spiel der Liebe (in German):
XOXO, dein Schreibmädchen, deine Frau
XOXO, your writing girl, your wife
2013, Arthur Fleischmann, Carly Fleischmann, La voz de Carly (in Spanish):
Nos vemos en unos días. Te quiero. Xoxo.
We see each other in a few days. I want you. Xoxo.
1999, Mon évolution par l'Amour (in French), page 134:
Je t’aime ! Kristel xxxx...
I love you! Kristel xxxx...
Usage notes
In the mathematical senses, the term is conventionally rendered in italics, as in, “Solve the equation for .”
Using x (in upper- or lower-case, italicized or not, and sometimes rotated 90 degrees) to indicate multiplication was common in 17th-century mathematical texts.[1] Today, this usage is considered poor typography, but it is nevertheless common because computer keyboards lack a × key.
Cajori, Florian (1914 December) “The Cross X as a Symbol for Multiplication”, in Nature, volume 94, →DOI, pages 363–364
Etymology 4
Originates in given multiples of the speeds specified in the original CD and DVD standards, then, by reason of the actual unit being without name but just implied by the multiplication sign, reinterpreted as or used as if a unit, considering also that data transfer speed is variable, so that now, bolstered by stylization of the sign in the marketing of manufacturers, either spelling, with the multiplication sign or with the ex borrowed from the iconic mathematical variable sign, seems correct.
Forming gender-neutral or otherwise more inclusive versions of words, especially Spanish-derived words by replacing both the masculine -o and feminine -a.
2016 February 22, Andrew Sparrow, “David Cameron's swipe at Boris Johnson in the Commons – verdict”, in The Guardian:
David Cameron gives a Commons statement after every EU summit and normally they follow a predictable pattern; he says that he set out with X number of aims, and then he explains he has achieved all X of them (even if he hasn’t). The most interesting comments normally come in the exchanges with MPs.
2016 May 19, Aaron Souppouris, “Why Google can't stop making messaging apps”, in Engadget:
But chances are that Google will continue to float new ideas before eventually merging the best of them into a single, coherent application, as it did with Hangouts. And then it'll start the process again. In the meantime, Google will spend money developing x number of duplicate apps, and users will have to deal with a confusing mess of applications on their home screens.
The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and x for information on the development of the glyph itself.
1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manchefr.Wikisource, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Chapter I:
Avec ces propos et d’autres semblables, le pauvre gentilhomme perdait le jugement. Il passait les nuits et se donnait la torture pour les comprendre, pour les approfondir, pour leur tirer le sens des entrailles, ce qu’Aristote lui-même n’aurait pu faire, s’il fût ressuscité tout exprès pour cela.
With these passages and other similar ones, the poor gentleman lost his judgement. He spent his nights and tortured himself to understand them, to consider them more deeply, to take from them their deepest meaning, which Aristotle himself would not have been able to do, had he been resurrected for that very purpose.
xin Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifthed., 1992: →ISBN