Dictionary — ontologydriven

sax en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

(General-American) audio
(Southern-England) audio
/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.

Meanings

(alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of zax.
alt of zax
(obsolete) A knife or sword; a dagger about 50 cm (20 inches) in length.
(historical) An early medieval type of machete common with the Germanic peoples.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
saxes	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Hyponyms

scramasax

Relateds

Middlesex · Essex · seax · Wessex · Saxon · Sussex · saw · saxie

sax en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

(General-American) audio
(Southern-England) audio
/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.

Meanings

(UK, dialectal, transitive) To cut or slash with a sharp instrument; incise; scarify.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Source
saxes	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic
saxing	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
saxed	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
saxed	Tense=Past	lexicographic

sax en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

(General-American) audio
(Southern-England) audio
/sæks/

Etymology

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

Meanings

(abbreviation, alt-of, clipping) Clipping of saxophone.
alt of saxophone

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
saxes	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Deriveds

tenor sax · soprillo sax · soprano sax · sopranissimo sax · saxist · sopranino sax · Mississippi sax · saxman · alto sax · sax tuba · saxtuba · subcontrabass sax · baritone sax · bari sax · contrabass sax · bass sax · tubax

sax en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

(General-American) audio
(Southern-England) audio
/sæks/

Etymology

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

Meanings

To play the saxophone

Forms

Spelling	Features	Source
saxing	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
saxed	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
saxed	Tense=Past	lexicographic
saxes	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic

sax en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

(General-American) audio
(Southern-England) audio
/sæks/

Etymology

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

Meanings

a shade of colour similar to sky blue

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
saxes	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Descendants

サックス