Definition of the word Vex

[sanddrag]

Today, a 9th grade student (not involved in robotics) saw my Vex parts poster, and asked "Doesn't 'vex' mean 'to annoy'?" I had never known the word to mean that, so I looked it up. Sure enough, the dictionary confirms she was right.

I thought the more common definition was similar to 'perplexing' or to gaze at something with wonder or amazement. I thought you could say that something really unique and captivating would be vexing, without meaning it is annoying.

Am I totally incorrect with what I thought the word meant? Why did IFI choose to name their product a word that means 'to annoy.' For a teacher with hundreds of these parts all over everywhere, that definition actually can sometimes be applied. But seriously, I'm curious how they arrived at this product name, and what it is actually supposed to mean.