# Saxon

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsæksən/ · frequency rank #13,417

## Definitions
1. A member of an ancient West Germanic tribe that lived at the eastern North Sea coast and south of it.
2. A native or inhabitant of Saxony, Germany.
3. An English/British person.
4. A size of type between German and Norse, 2-point type.
5. A kind of rapidly spinning ground-based firework.

## Etymology
Partially from Middle English Saxe, Sax; from Old English *Seaxa (attested in plural Seaxan), and Saxoun, from Old French *Saxoun, Saxon (“Saxon”), from Late Latin Saxōnem, accusative of Saxō (“a Saxon”), both from Proto-West Germanic *sahs, from Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“rock, knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of Sais.
Cognates
Cognate with Middle Low German sasse (“someone speaking Saxon, i.e. (Middle) Low German”), Old English Seaxa (“a Saxon”), Old High German Sahso (“a Saxon”), Icelandic Saxi (“a Saxon”), Estonian saks (“lord; German”), Finnish Saksa (“Germany”). Also cognate to Old English seax (“a knife, hip-knife, an instrument for cutting, a short sword, dirk, dagger”); more at sax.

## Easily confused with
- **son** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-son)
- **soon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-soon)
- **Sion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-sion)
- **Simon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-simon)
- **spoon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-spoon)
- **scion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-scion)
- **swoon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-swoon)
- **seton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-seton)
- **solon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-solon)
- **season** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-season)
- **Sharon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-sharon)
- **sexton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-sexton)
- **Saxony** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-saxony)
- **Seaton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saxon-vs-seaton)
- **san** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/san-vs-saxon)
- **Sao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sao-vs-saxon)
- **sax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sax-vs-saxon)
- **Sato** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sato-vs-saxon)
- **sawn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sawn-vs-saxon)
- **Satan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/satan-vs-saxon)

## Common misspellings (7)
`asxon`, `saoxn`, `saxno`, `saxonn`, `saxxon`, `ssaxon`, `sxaon`

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