sax meaning: definition, etymology

sax

noun

/sæks/

Etymology From Middle English sax, sex, from Old English seax (“a knife, hip-knife, an instrument for cutting, a short sword, dirk, dagger”), from Proto-West Germanic *sahs, from Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“stone chip, knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of seax and zax.

1

Alternative Alternative spelling of zax.

2

Obsolete A knife or sword; a dagger about 50 cm (20 inches) in length.

Related terms: Essex, Middlesex, saw, saxie, Saxon, seax, Sussex, Wessex

sax

verb

Etymology From Middle English sax, sex, from Old English seax (“a knife, hip-knife, an instrument for cutting, a short sword, dirk, dagger”), from Proto-West Germanic *sahs, from Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“stone chip, knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of seax and zax.

1

UK, Dialectal To cut or slash with a sharp instrument; incise; scarify.

sax

verb

Etymology Clipping of saxophone. Distantly related to etymology 1 above, because the “Sax” surname is a cognate.

1

To play the saxophone

sax

noun

Etymology Clipping of saxe blue, from the name of the region of Saxony.

1

Fashion, Lifestyle a shade of colour similar to sky blue