In former times, Saxons were members of a West Germanic tribe. Some members of this tribe settled in Britain and were known as Anglo-Saxons.
2. adjective
Something that is Saxon is related to or characteristic of the ancient Saxons, the Anglo-Saxons, or theirdescendants.
...a seventh-century Saxon church.
Saxon in British English
(ˈsæksən)
noun
1.
a member of a West Germanic people who in Roman times spread from Schleswig across NW Germany to the Rhine. Saxons raided and settled parts of S Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries ad. In Germany they established a duchy and other dominions, which changed and shifted through the centuries, usually retaining the name Saxony
2.
a native or inhabitant of Saxony
3.
a.
the Low German dialect of Saxony
b.
any of the West Germanic dialects spoken by the ancient Saxons or their descendants
adjective
4.
of, relating to, or characteristic of the ancient Saxons, the Anglo-Saxons, or their descendants
5.
of, relating to, or characteristic of Saxony, its inhabitants, or their Low Germandialect
See also West Saxon, Anglo-Saxon
Word origin
C13 (replacing Old English Seaxe): via Old French from Late Latin Saxon-, Saxo, from Greek; of Germanic origin and perhaps related to the name of a knife used bythe Saxons; compare saw1
Saxon in American English
(ˈsæksən)
noun
1.
a member of an ancient Germanic people of northern Germany: some Saxons invaded and conquered parts of England in the 5th and 6th cent. a.d.
2.
Anglo-Saxon (sense 1) Anglo-Saxon (sense 4)
3.
a person born or living in modern Saxony
4.
any of the Low German dialects of the Saxon peoples, as the dialect of modern Saxony
adjective
5.
of the Saxons or their language or culture
6.
English or Anglo-Saxon
7.
of modern Saxony
Word origin
ME < LL Saxo, pl. Saxones < WGmc name > OE Seaxan < base akin to OHG sahs, sword, knife & L saxum, rock, stone, secare, to cut (see saw1): hence, orig. ? knife bearers
Word lists with
Saxon
architectural styles, Furniture styles, European peoples
Definition of 'Saxon'
All related terms of 'Saxon'
Old Saxon
the Saxon dialect of Low German up to about 1200, from which modern Low German is derived
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxon period is the period of English history from the fifth century A. D . to the Norman Conquest in 1066.
Saxon blue
a dye made by dissolving indigo in a solution of sulphuric acid
West Saxon
of or relating to Wessex , its inhabitants , or their dialect
Hiberno-Saxon
having the characteristics of both the Irish and English; Anglo-Irish