sax

See also: SAX and Sax.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sæks/
• Homophones: sacks, Sacks
• Rhymes: -æks

Etymology 1

From Middle English sax, sex, from Old English seax (“a knife, hip-knife, an instrument for cutting, a short sword, dirk, dagger”), from Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“stone chip, knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Cognate with North Frisian sax (“knife, sword”), Middle Dutch sas (“knife”), Middle Low German sax (“knife”), Middle High German sahs (“a knife”), Danish saks (“a pair of scissors”), Swedish sax (“a pair of scissors”), Icelandic sax (“a short heavy sword”), Latin secō (“cut”). See also Saxon, saw.

Noun

sax (plural saxes)

1. A slate-cutter's hammer; slate-ax.
2. (obsolete) A knife or sword; a dagger about 20 inches in length.

Related terms

• Essex
• Middlesex
• saxie
• Saxon
• seax
• Sussex
• Wessex
• zax

 

Verb

sax (third-person singular simple present saxes, present participle saxing, simple past and past participle saxed)

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

Etymology 2

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

Noun

sax (plural saxes)

1. Clipping of saxophone.

Anagrams

• ASX, XAS

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Aleut

Noun

sax

1. bird skin coat

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Kurdish

Adjective

sax (comparative {{{1}}}, superlative {{{2}}})

1. alive
2. healthy
3. whole

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• sexe, sex, sæx, seax

Etymology

From Old English seax, from Proto-Germanic *sahsą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saks/
• Rhymes: -aks

Noun

sax (plural saxes or saxen)

1. A knife (tool)
2. A knife (weapon)

Descendants

• English: sax, zax

References

• “sax (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-24.

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Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“dagger, knife”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”).

Noun

sax n (genitive sax, plural sǫx)

1. a oneedged sword, a backsword
2. (plural only) shears

Declension

  Declension of sax (strong a-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	sax	saxit	sǫx	sǫxin
accusative	sax	saxit	sǫx	sǫxin
dative	saxi	saxinu	sǫxum	sǫxunum
genitive	sax	saxins	saxa	saxanna

Related terms

• saxar m pl (“Saxons”)

Derived terms

• saxa (“to cut with a 'sax'”)
• saxknífr m (“dagger, dirk”)
• saxoddr m (“the point of a 'sax”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: sax n
• Faroese: saksur m
• Norwegian Nynorsk: saks f
• Norwegian Bokmål: saks m, f
• Swedish: sax c
• Danish: saks c

References

sax in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

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Scots

Etymology

From Middle English sex, byform of six, from Old English siex, from Proto-Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saks/

Numeral

cardinal number

6	Previous:	five
	Next:	seiven

sax

1. (cardinal) six

Related terms

• saxt (“sixth”)

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Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse sǫx (plural of sax), from Proto-Germanic *sahsą, from Proto-Indo-European *sek-.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

sax c

1. a pair of scissors; shears
2. short of saxofon
3. a trap for animals

Declension

Declension of sax
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	sax	saxen	saxar	saxarna
Genitive	sax	saxens	saxars	saxarnas

Related terms

• altsax
• björnsax
• bultsax
• fårsax
• häcksax
• kökssax
• ljussax
• nagelsax
• plåtsax
• rävsax
• saxa
• saxfiske
• saxning
• saxnäbb
• saxsektion
• saxskänkel
• saxskär
• saxsprint
• sysax
• tenorsax
• trädgårdssax
• ullsax

References

• sax in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)