A low-quality wax used historically by candle makers, made from animal fat or inferior materials rather than beeswax.
Compound from 'chaff' (inferior/worthless) and 'wax.' This medieval term reflects the pun-like language of tradespeople who sold cheap candles—they 'waxed' their business with chaff-like, inferior materials. The term appears in Geoffrey Chaucer's works, showing its established use in 14th-century England.
Chaucer mentions 'chaffwax' in his Canterbury Tales, where it becomes a pun on the name of an actual London street guild, showing how medieval traders had a cutting sense of humor about the quality of their products.
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