Origin and history of earwax

"organ of hearing," Old English eare "ear," from Proto-Germanic *auzon, from PIE *ous- "ear."

þe harde harte of man, þat lat in godis word atte ton ere & vt atte toþir. [sermon, c. 1250]

In music, "capability to learn and reproduce by hearing," 1520s, hence play by ear (1670s).

The belief that itching or burning ears means someone is talking about you is mentioned in Pliny's "Natural History" (77 C.E.). Until at least the 1880s, even some medical men still believed piercing the ear lobes improved one's eyesight.

The meaning "handle of a pitcher" is mid-15c. (but compare Old English earde "having a handle," and the image also was in ancient Greek).

To be wet behind the ears "naive" is from 1902, American English. The warning phrase walls have ears is attested from 1610s.

IE cognates include Greek ous, Latin auris, Lithuanian ausis, Old Church Slavonic ucho, Old Irish au "ear," Avestan usi "the two ears." The Germanic cognates include Old Norse eyra, Danish øre, Old Frisian are, Old Saxon ore, Middle Dutch ore, Dutch oor, Old High German ora, German Ohr, Gothic auso. French orielle, Spanish oreja are from Latin auricula (Medieval Latin oricula), diminutive of auris.

Old English weax "thick, sticky substance secreted by bees and used to build their cells," from Proto-Germanic *wahsam (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German wahs, Old Norse vax, Dutch was, German Wachs), from PIE root *wokso- "wax" (source also of Old Church Slavonic voskŭ, Lithuanian vaškas, Polish wosk, Russian vosk "wax" (but these may be from Germanic).

In early use especially as a substance to receive a seal, or as a surface on writing tablets. Used of other similar substances from 18c.

The slang sense of "gramophone record" is from 1932, American English (until the early 1940s, most original records were made by needle-etching onto a waxy disk which then was metal-plated to make a master). Wax museum "exhibition of life-size wax figures representing famous or notorious persons" is recorded by 1817 (compare waxwork).