# sax
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sæks/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Homophones: sacks, Sacks, Sachs, Sax
* 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-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)
* A slate-cutter’s hammer; slate-ax.
* (obsolete) A knife or sword; a dagger about 50 cm (20 inches) in length.

##### Related terms

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

#### Verb

sax (third-person singular simple present saxes, present participle saxing, simple past and past participle saxed)
* (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)
* Clipping of saxophone.

##### Derived terms

* alto sax
* bari sax
* baritone sax
* bass sax
* contrabass sax
* Mississippi sax
* sax tuba
* sopranino sax
* sopranissimo sax
* soprano sax
* soprillo sax
* subcontrabass sax
* tenor sax

#### Verb

sax (third-person singular simple present saxes, present participle saxing, simple past and past participle saxed)
* To play the saxophone

### Etymology 3

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

#### Noun

sax (plural saxes)
* (fashion) a shade of colour similar to sky blue
    sax:

##### Descendants

* Japanese: サックス (sakkusu)

### Anagrams

* ASX, XAS

## Aleut
### Noun

sax
* bird skin coat

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɑks/
* Hyphenation: sax
* Rhymes: -ɑks
* Homophone: Sax

### 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)
* 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)
* (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

* IPA: /ˈsɑks/, [ˈs̠ɑ̝ks̠]
* Rhymes: -ɑks

### Noun

sax
* (historical) seax (a type of sword)
    Synonyms: seax, viikinkimiekka

#### Declension

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
third-person possessor
singular
plural
nominative
saxinsa
saxinsa
accusative
nom.
saxinsa
saxinsa
gen.
saxinsa
genitive
saxinsa
saxiensa
partitive
saxiaan saxiansa
saxejaan saxejansa
inessive
saxissaan saxissansa
saxeissaan saxeissansa
elative
saxistaan saxistansa
saxeistaan saxeistansa
illative
saxiinsa
saxeihinsa
adessive
saxillaan saxillansa
saxeillaan saxeillansa
ablative
saxiltaan saxiltansa
saxeiltaan saxeiltansa
allative
saxilleen saxillensa
saxeilleen saxeillensa
essive
saxinaan saxinansa
saxeinaan saxeinansa
translative
saxikseen saxiksensa
saxeikseen saxeiksensa
abessive
saxittaan saxittansa
saxeittaan saxeittansa
instructive
comitative
—saxeineen saxeinensa :

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* sexe, sex, sæx, seax

### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /saks/
* Rhymes: -aks

### Noun

sax (plural saxes)
* a knife (tool)
* a knife (weapon)

#### Descendants

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

### References

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

## Northern Kurdish
### Adjective

sax
* alive
* healthy
* 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)
* a one-edged sword, a backsword
* (plural only) shears

#### Derived terms

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

#### Related terms

* 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
### Alternative forms

* sex, six

### Etymology

From Middle English sex, byform of six.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /saks/

### Numeral

sax
* six

### References

* “sax, num. adj.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 21 May 2024, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
* “sex, num. and n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 21 May 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
* “six, num. adj., n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 21 May 2024, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.

## Swedish
### Etymology 1

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

#### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

#### Noun

sax c
* a pair of scissors; shears
* a trap for animals

##### Related terms

* björnsax
* bultsax
* fårsax
* häcksax
* kökssax
* limpsax
* ljussax
* nagelsax
* plåtsax
* rävsax
* saxa
* saxfiske
* saxning
* saxnäbb
* saxskänkel
* saxskär
* saxsprint
* sysax
* trädgårdssax
* ullsax

##### Descendants

* → Finnish: sakset pl, saksi sg

### Etymology 2

Clipping of saxofon, attested since 1934.

#### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

#### Noun

sax c
* short of saxofon

##### Related terms

* altsax
* saxsektion
* tenorsax

### References

* sax in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* sax in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* sax in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)