seax
noun/ˈsiːks/ · /ˈseɪ̯.æks/
Etymology Learned borrowing from Old English seax (“dagger”). Doublet of sax and zax.
1
Historical A short Saxon sword.
- The Pugio or Dagger was used by the Romans, a species of that weapon called the Hand Seax was worn by the Saxons, with which they massacred the English on Salisbury Plain in 476.1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 34:
- It consisted of the arms of the City of London, Middlesex (three seaxes, or Saxon swords), Buckingham (a swan), and Hertford (a hart), arranged quarterly, on a background of crimson and ermine mantling […].1950 June, Michael Robbins, “Heraldry of London Underground Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 380: