Etymograph

English

sax

Sax comes from Middle English sax ‘a knife (tool)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sek-1‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sahsą1‘stone chip, knife’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sahs1‘dagger, knife’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150seax1‘a knife, hip-knife, an instrument for cutting, a short sword, dirk, dagger’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sax1‘a knife (tool)’
  6. Englishtodaysax1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sax

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sek-Wiktionary, English sax‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sahsąWiktionary, English sax‘stone chip, knife’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sahsWiktionary, English sax‘dagger, knife’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150seaxWiktionary, English sax‘a knife, hip-knife, an instrument for cutting, a short sword, dirk, dagger’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500saxWiktionary, English sax‘a knife (tool)’
  6. EnglishtodaysaxWiktionary, English sax

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’

sex, design, sign, risk, section, ship, sexual, saw, seal, segment, insect, scarlet, sack, sawyer, sickle, het, shingle, dissect, scythe, sich, seg, sedge, sigil, brassica, desiccation, desiccant, sain, 62 more

Today it means

noun A knife or sword; a dagger about 50 cm (20 inches) in length.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sax”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sek- / sax

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