sax

Meaning

Noun

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

Verb

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

Verb

To play the saxophone

Synonyms

saxophone

🎷

horn

Pronounced as (IPA)

/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.