late 15c., "place where four ways meet," from Old French carrefor (13c., quarrefour), from Medieval Latin quadrifurcus "four-forked," from Latin quatuor "four" (from PIE root *kwetwer- "four") + furca "two-pronged fork" (a word of unknown etymology). "Formerly quite naturalized, but now treated only as French" [OED]. Englished variant carfax is from Middle English carfourkes.