# sax

> English word · Noun · IPA /sæks/ · frequency rank #23,982

## Definitions
1. Alternative spelling of zax.
2. A knife or sword; a dagger about 50 cm (20 inches) in length.

## Etymology
From Middle English sax, sex, from Old English seax (“a knife, hip-knife, an instrument for cutting, a short sword, dirk, dagger”), from Proto-West Germanic *sahs, from Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“stone chip, knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of seax and zax.

## Easily confused with
- **so** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-so)
- **se** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-se)
- **SC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sc)
- **SI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-si)
- **SS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-ss)
- **SP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sp)
- **su** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-su)
- **SD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sd)
- **sf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sf)
- **sh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sh)
- **SM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sm)
- **SB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sb)
- **SW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sw)
- **SL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sl)
- **SG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sg)
- **SK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sk)
- **SV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sv)
- **SJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sj)
- **Sy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-sy)
- **she** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-she)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sax