sax

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See also: SAX, Sax, and Sax.

English

Pronunciation

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-West Germanic *sahs, from Proto-Germanic *sahsą (stone chip, knife), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (to cut). Doublet of seax and zax.

Noun

sax (plural saxes)

  1. A slate-cutter’s hammer; slate-ax.
  2. (obsolete) A knife or sword; a dagger about 50 cm (20 inches) in length.

Verb

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

  1. (transitive, British 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.
Derived terms

Verb

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

  1. To play the saxophone

Etymology 3

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

Noun

sax (plural saxes)

  1. (fashion) a shade of colour similar to sky blue
    sax:  
Descendants

Anagrams

Aleut

Noun

sax

  1. bird skin coat

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Borrowed, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sahsą (stone chip, knife), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (to cut). The word also existed in the sixteenth century, but became obsolete and was borrowed again.

Noun

sax c (plural saxen, diminutive saxje n)

  1. sax, short sword, dagger

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English sax or less probably a native formation from saxofoon.

Noun

sax m (plural saxen, diminutive saxje n)

  1. (informal) sax, saxophone
    Synonym: saxofoon

Finnish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old Norse sax. Doublet of saksa, Saksa, sakset, saksi (claw), saksi (Saxon), Saksi, and seax.

Pronunciation

Noun

sax

  1. (historical) seax (a type of sword)
    Synonyms: seax, viikinkimiekka

Declension

Inflection of sax (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative sax saxit
genitive saxin saxien
partitive saxia saxeja
illative saxiin saxeihin
singular plural
nominative sax saxit
accusative nom. sax saxit
gen. saxin
genitive saxin saxien
partitive saxia saxeja
inessive saxissa saxeissa
elative saxista saxeista
illative saxiin saxeihin
adessive saxilla saxeilla
ablative saxilta saxeilta
allative saxille saxeille
essive saxina saxeina
translative saxiksi saxeiksi
abessive saxitta saxeitta
instructive saxein
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of sax (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative saxini saxini
accusative nom. saxini saxini
gen. saxini
genitive saxini saxieni
partitive saxiani saxejani
inessive saxissani saxeissani
elative saxistani saxeistani
illative saxiini saxeihini
adessive saxillani saxeillani
ablative saxiltani saxeiltani
allative saxilleni saxeilleni
essive saxinani saxeinani
translative saxikseni saxeikseni
abessive saxittani saxeittani
instructive
comitative saxeineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative saxisi saxisi
accusative nom. saxisi saxisi
gen. saxisi
genitive saxisi saxiesi
partitive saxiasi saxejasi
inessive saxissasi saxeissasi
elative saxistasi saxeistasi
illative saxiisi saxeihisi
adessive saxillasi saxeillasi
ablative saxiltasi saxeiltasi
allative saxillesi saxeillesi
essive saxinasi saxeinasi
translative saxiksesi saxeiksesi
abessive saxittasi saxeittasi
instructive
comitative saxeinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative saximme saximme
accusative nom. saximme saximme
gen. saximme
genitive saximme saxiemme
partitive saxiamme saxejamme
inessive saxissamme saxeissamme
elative saxistamme saxeistamme
illative saxiimme saxeihimme
adessive saxillamme saxeillamme
ablative saxiltamme saxeiltamme
allative saxillemme saxeillemme
essive saxinamme saxeinamme
translative saxiksemme saxeiksemme
abessive saxittamme saxeittamme
instructive
comitative saxeinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative saxinne saxinne
accusative nom. saxinne saxinne
gen. saxinne
genitive saxinne saxienne
partitive saxianne saxejanne
inessive saxissanne saxeissanne
elative saxistanne saxeistanne
illative saxiinne saxeihinne
adessive saxillanne saxeillanne
ablative saxiltanne saxeiltanne
allative saxillenne saxeillenne
essive saxinanne saxeinanne
translative saxiksenne saxeiksenne
abessive saxittanne saxeittanne
instructive
comitative saxeinenne

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

sax (plural saxes)

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

Descendants

  • English: sax; zax
  • Scots: saks; sax (verb) (through confluence with Norse form)

References

Northern Kurdish

Adjective

sax

  1. alive
  2. healthy
  3. whole

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 one-edged 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

Derived terms

  • saxa (to cut with a 'sax')
  • saxknífr m (dagger, dirk)
  • saxoddr m (the point of a 'sax)
  • saxar m pl (Saxons)

Descendants

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

Further reading

Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “sax”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Scots

Scots numbers (edit)
 ←  5 6 7  → 
    Cardinal: sax
    Ordinal: saxt

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English sex, byform of six.

Pronunciation

Numeral

sax

  1. six

References

Swedish

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

Noun

sax c

  1. a pair of scissors; shears
  2. a trap for animals
Declension
Descendants

Etymology 2

Clipping of saxofon, attested since 1934.

Pronunciation

Noun

sax c

  1. short of saxofon
Declension

References