Why is the island group called Paxos?

The etymology of the word “Paxos”has many interpretations. According to Strabo, the Phoenicians gave their name from their word “paks”, which means geometric “trapezoid”, an island with a trapezoid shape, as it appears if viewed from the air.

Another version claims that a group of inhabitants from the region of Paxountos in Sicily, either out of need or due to partisan raids, left their homeland and settled in Paxos giving it the name of their motherland. The Metropolitis of Paramythia, Athinagoras, interpreted the name Paxos as a corruption of the Greek word for flagstone “plaka” which were cut on the island and exported.

A combination of the word Pax (Παξ)= flagstones and –áå or –áé (αε ή αι)=island, gives us the name of the island of the flagstones. Eric Stefanos claims in his thesaurus of the Greek language that the name comes from the Greek verb “congeal” and more specifically from its future tense “pίxo”.

It’s also possible that it comes from the phrase “closed gateway” (paksosas thyras),because the harbour of Gaios is closed. Giannis Doikas believes that the word PAX= peace, is the one that best suits the peaceful island of Paxos.