Etymograph

English

Saxony

Saxony comes from Latin Saxō ‘a person from the Germanic tribal community of…’, from Proto-West Germanic *sahs ‘dagger, knife’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sek-‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sahsą‘dagger, knife’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sahs‘dagger, knife’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*Sahsō‘a Saxon’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CESaxō‘a person from the Germanic tribal community of the Saxons’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CESaxōnia
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Saxonie
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1759Saxony

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sek-‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sahsą‘dagger, knife’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sahs‘dagger, knife’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*Sahsō‘a Saxon’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CESaxō‘a person from the Germanic tribal community of the Saxons’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CESaxōnia
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Saxonie
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1759Saxony

Earliest quotation: 1759, George Sale et al., The Modern Part of an Universal History: “Since the reign of Charlemagne, this country is divided…”

Equivalent to Saxon + -y

Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’

…

Late Latin Saxōnem

Old French *Saxoun

Old English *Seaxa

Middle English Saxe

English Saxon

Linked words

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

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

through Proto-West Germanic *sahs ‘dagger, knife’

sax, 2 more

Today it means

name A state of modern Germany, located in the east, far from historical Saxon lands. Official name: Free State of Saxony.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

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

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