Meanings
- attributivein compoundsSaxony: A historical region and former duchy in north-central Germany
The Intentioun of the Empreour is sic, that he will put from the Impyre, the Palsgraue and Duke August of Saxe […]
1572, The copie of the Proclamatioun set furth be the kingis Maiestie and his Counsall, for ane Conuentioun of the Professouris of the trew Religioun within the Realme […]2 more examples
When Luther rose, the Duke of Saxe, being moved of God, did receive the Reformation peaceably into his principalities, without any force, and his examples was followed by other Princes and free cities […]
1669, [Gilbert Burnet], A Modest and Free Conference Betwixt a Conformist and a Non-conformist […], page 17If Prussian policy represented the extreme of encouraging the dissolution of Judaism through inner decay, in Saxe–Weimar it was deemed best to break the bonds of tradition forcibly in order to speed up the process of amalgamation.
1988, Michael A. Meyer, Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism, →ISBN, page 104 - A surname from the Germanic languages.
- historicaluncountableartsA German albumenized paper used in photography.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*sahsą“dagger, knife”
- Old NorseSaxi
- Middle EnglishSaxe
- DutchSas
- GermanSachs
- GermanSaxen
- GermanSachsen“Saxony”
- Middle FrenchSaxe“Saxony”
- Old EnglishSeaxe
- Middle EnglishSaxe“the Saxons”
- EnglishSaxe
Seemingly a combination of influences: Middle English Saxe (“the Saxons”) (from Old English Seaxe), Middle French Saxe (“Saxony”), and German Sachsen (“Saxony”) and Sachse (“a Saxon”) itself, rewritten with x (compare regional German Saxen). The form Saxẽ (i.e., Saxen) is found in some Early Modern sources. The surname is also partly from German Sachs, itself a variant of Sachse; a variant of Dutch Sas (literally “Saxon”), a cognate; and Middle English Saxe, a personal name from Old Norse Saxi, from sax (“one-edged sword”). All of these ultimately lead back to Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“dagger, knife”). Doublet of Sachs, Sax, Sas, and Sachse.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
Saxe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Saxe
“Saxe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Saxe. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Saxe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Saxe.
Source: Saxe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.