Meanings
plural saxophones
- A single-reed instrument musical instrument of the woodwind family, usually made of brass and with a distinctive loop bringing the bell upwards.
I played the saxophone in high school.
Synonyms: sax, gobble-pipe, saxomaphone
- Someone who plays the saxophone; a saxophonist.
The saxophones typically sit behind the flutes in a concert band.
present singular third person saxophones · participle present saxophoning · participle past saxophoned · past saxophoned
- To play the saxophone.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA single-reed instrument musical instrument of the woodwind family, usually made of brass and with a distinctive loop bringing the bell upwards.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna single-reed woodwind with a conical bore
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*sek-
- Proto-Germanic*sahsą
- Proto-West Germanic*sahs
- Proto-West Germanic*Sahsō
- Old High GermanSahso
- Middle High GermanSahse
- GermanSachse
- GermanSachs
- FrenchSax
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
- Proto-Hellenic*pʰōnā́
- Ancient Greekφωνή (phōnḗ)
- Frenchsaxophone
- Englishsaxophone
Borrowed from French saxophone, a combination of the surname of its inventor Adolphe Sax (1814–1894) + -o- + -phone (“something that makes a sound”), from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, voice”). The first element surname is a variant of the German Sachs (“Saxon”). Analyzable as Sax + -o- + -phone.
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans saxofoon
- saxofoona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Arabic سَاكْسُفُون
- سَاكْسُفُون (sāksufūn)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Basque saxofoi
- saxofoia musical instrument of the woodwind family
Bengali স্যাক্সোফোন
- স্যাক্সোফোন (sêkśōphōn)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Bulgarian саксофо́н
- саксофо́н (saksofón)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Catalan saxòfon, saxofon
- saxòfona musical instrument of the woodwind family
- saxofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Chinese Cantonese 色士風 /色士风
- 色士風 /色士风 (sik¹ si⁶ fung¹)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Chinese Mandarin 薩克斯管 /萨克斯管, 薩克斯風 /萨克斯风
- 薩克斯管 /萨克斯管 (sàkèsīguǎn)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
- 薩克斯風 /萨克斯风 (sàkèsīfēng)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
- 薩克斯 /萨克斯 (sàkèsī)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
- 薩克管 /萨克管 (sàkèguǎn)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Czech saxofon
- saxofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Danish saxofon
- saxofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Dutch saxofoon
- saxofoona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Esperanto saksofono
- saksofonoa musical instrument of the woodwind family
Estonian saksofon
- saksofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Finnish saksofoni
- saksofonia musical instrument of the woodwind family
French saxophone
- saxophonea musical instrument of the woodwind family
German Saxofon
- Saxofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Greek σαξόφωνο
- σαξόφωνο (saxófono)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Hebrew סַקסוֹפוֹן
- סַקסוֹפוֹן (saksofón)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Hindi सैक्सोफ़ोन, सेक्सोफोन
- सैक्सोफ़ोन (saiksofon)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
- सेक्सोफोन (seksophon)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Hungarian szaxofon
- szaxofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Icelandic saxófónn
- saxófónna musical instrument of the woodwind family
Indonesian saksofon
- saksofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Irish sacsafón
- sacsafóna musical instrument of the woodwind family
Italian sassofono
- sassofonoa musical instrument of the woodwind family
Japanese サクソフォン
- サクソフォン (sakusofon)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Korean 색소폰
- 색소폰 (saeksopon)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Latin saxophonus
- saxophonusa musical instrument of the woodwind family
Latvian saksofons
- saksofonsa musical instrument of the woodwind family
Lithuanian saksofonas
- saksofonasa musical instrument of the woodwind family
Malay saksofon
- saksofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Māori pūtohe, rehu kōkō
- pūtohea musical instrument of the woodwind family
- rehu kōkōa musical instrument of the woodwind family
Norwegian Bokmål saksofon
- saksofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Persian ساکسوفون
- ساکسوفون (sâksofon)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Polish saksofon
- saksofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Portuguese saxofone
- saxofonea musical instrument of the woodwind family
Romanian saxofon
- saxofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Russian саксофо́н
- саксофо́н (saksofón)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Slovak saxofón
- saxofóna musical instrument of the woodwind family
Spanish saxofón, saxófono
- saxofóna musical instrument of the woodwind family
- saxófonoa musical instrument of the woodwind family
Swahili saksafoni
- saksafonia musical instrument of the woodwind family
Swedish saxofon
- saxofona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Tagalog saksopon
- saksopona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Thai แซ็กโซโฟน
- แซ็กโซโฟน (sɛ́k-soo-foon)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Turkish saksafon
- saksafona musical instrument of the woodwind family
Ukrainian саксофо́н
- саксофо́н (saksofón)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Vietnamese xacxô, xắc xô
- xacxôa musical instrument of the woodwind family
- xắc xôa musical instrument of the woodwind family
Yiddish סאַקסאָפֿאָן
- סאַקסאָפֿאָן (saksofon)a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Cite this entry
saxophone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saxophone
“saxophone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saxophone. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “saxophone,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saxophone.
Source: saxophone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.