seax

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old English seax (“dagger”). Doublet of sax and zax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsiːks/, /ˈseɪ.æks/
• Rhymes: -iːks, -eɪæks
• Homophone: seeks

Noun

seax (plural seaxes)

1. (historical) A short Saxon sword.
   • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 34:

     The Pugio or Dagger was used by the Romans, a species of that weapon called the Hand Seax was worn by the Saxons, with which they massacred the English on Salisbury Plain in 476.

   • 1950 June, Michael Robbins, “Heraldry of London Underground Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 380:

     It consisted of the arms of the City of London, Middlesex (three seaxes, or Saxon swords), Buckingham (a swan), and Hertford (a hart), arranged quarterly, on a background of crimson and ermine mantling […] .

Translations

short Saxon sword

• Finnish: väkipuukko (fi)
• German: Sax (de) m, Sachs (de) m
• Russian: сакс (ru) m (saks), скрамасакс (ru) m (skramasaks)

Anagrams

• Saxe, axes, sexa-

Middle English

Noun

seax

1. Alternative form of sax

Old English

Alternative forms

• sex — West Saxon
• syx, sex

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sahs, from Proto-Germanic *sahsą. Compare Old English sagu, seċġ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sæ͜ɑks/

Noun

seax n

1. knife

   Synonym: (rare or dialectical) cnīf

Declension

Declension of seax (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	seax	seax
accusative	seax	seax
genitive	seaxes	seaxa
dative	seaxe	seaxum

Derived terms

• lǣċeseax
• meteseax
• næġlseax
• sċierseax

Related terms

• Seaxa

Descendants

• Middle English: sax, sexe, sex, sæx, seax
  • English: sax; zax
  • Scots: saks; sax (verb) (through confluence with Norse form)
• → English: seax (learned)