boxer

The word boxer, as well as the dog breed itself, is of German origin; the dog was first bred in the city of Munich in the 1890s. Scholars of word origins have assumed that the German noun Boxer is in its turn borrowed from English boxer, “a man who fights with his fists,” but its exact origin is somewhat mysterious. The boxer is not an aggressive dog, but the breed's ancestors may have been used for bullbaiting, a sport in which chained bulls were set upon by fierce dogs. There is some evidence that Boxer was a name given to such a dog.