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Saxon

sa·xon

UK/ˈsæksən/ US/ˈsæksʌn/ uncommon dated rare us
adjective (1) noun (1)

adjective

1.

of or relating to or characteristic of the early Saxons or Anglo-Saxons and their descendents (especially the English or Lowland Scots) and their language

  • “Saxon princes”
  • “for greater clarity choose a plain Saxon term instead of a latinate one”

noun

1.

a member of a Germanic people who conquered England and merged with the Angles and Jutes to become Anglo-Saxons; dominant in England until the Norman conquest

Origin

Partially from Middle English Saxe, Sax; from Old English *Seaxa (attested in plural Seaxan), and Saxoun, from Old French *Saxoun, Saxon (“Saxon”), from Late Latin Saxōnem, accusative of Saxō (“a Saxon”), both from Proto-West Germanic *sahs, from Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“rock, knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of Sais. Cognates Cognate with Middle Low German sasse (“someone speaking Saxon, i.e. (Middle) Low German”), Old English Seaxa (“a Saxon”), Old High German Sahso (“a Saxon”), Icelandic Saxi (“a Saxon”), Estonian saks (“lord; German”), Finnish Saksa (“Germany”). Also cognate to Old English seax (“a knife, hip-knife, an instrument for cutting, a short sword, dirk, dagger”); more at sax.

Phrases

  • Transylvanian Saxon

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.