▪ I. sax, n.1
(sæks)
Forms: 1 seax, sæx, sex, 3 seax, sax, sæx, sox, 3–4 sex. In sense 2: 7 sects, 9 saixe, sax(e, sex, s.w. dial. zax, zex.
[OE. seax, sex, sæx (also in comb. Northumb. writsæx ‘writing-knife’, i.e. pen) = OFris. sax, OS., MLG., OHG., MHG. saks (also in comb. OHG. me{zced}{zced}isahs, me{zced}{zced}irahs, MHG. me{zced}{zced}eres, me{zced}{zced}er, mod.G. messer knife = OE. męteseax ‘meat-knife’), ON. sax (Sw., Da. sax scissors):—OTeut. *sahso{supm}, f. root *sah-, sag- to cut: see saw n.1
In the well-known story related by Geoffrey of Monmouth after ‘Nennius’, the signal given by Hengist to his Saxons for the treacherous slaughter of their British hosts appears in the form ‘Nemet oure saxas’. The OE. form would be Nimað éowre seax, the n. being uninflected in the plural. The two earliest MSS. of ‘Nennius’ (11th c.) have respectively saxas and sexa.]
† 1. A knife; a short sword or dagger. Obs. exc. Hist.
| Beowulf 1545 Heo..hyre seaxe ᵹeteah brad brunecg. a 800 Corpus Gloss., Culter, saex. c 1000 ælfric Josh. v. 2 Wirc þe nu stænene sex. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 81 Þet me sculde in þe ehtuþe dei þet knaue child embsniþen mid ane ulint sexe. c 1205 Lay. 4015 Þe uniselie moder mid sexe hine to-snæde. Ibid. 22342 Mid swiðe scærpe sæxen. 1300–1400 R. Glouc. (Rolls) App. G. 40 Mid hare sexes hi corue þat bodi pece mele. 1968 Medium ævum XXXVII. 130 The Hailfingen, Württemberg, sax. 1972 G. Jones Kings, Beasts, & Heroes i. i. 20 Wiglaf pierces the dragon's unarmoured under⁓belly, and..draws his sax and severs him at the middle. |
2. A chopping-tool used for trimming slates.
| 1669 Colepress in Phil. Trans. IV. 1009 If in hewing it does not break before the edge of the Sects (the hewing instrument of the Slatters) you may not much doubt of the firmness of the Slat. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 400 The Saixe is of steel, and not unlike a large knife. 1842 Gwilt Encycl. Arch. §1800 (Slates) It is thought to be a good sign, if, in hewing, it shatters before the edge of the zax. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Sex, a tool used by slaters... It is a kind of straight chopper, with a bill or point projecting from the back for ‘holing’ the slates. |
▪ II. sax, n.2
(sæks)
Colloq. abbrev. of saxophone.
1. = saxophone 1. For alto sax, tenor sax, etc., see under first element.
| 1923 N.Y. Times 7 Oct. ix. 2 Sax, a saxophone. 1926 Picture-Play Mag. July 3/2 (Advt.), How I used to envy Laura playing beautifully mellow notes on her sax. 1931 Amer. Mercury Dec. 426/1 ‘Mom,’ he said, ‘is my old sax still around here?’ 1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Saturday xi. 68 The works dance band, that Elmdown Six in which Jack Brimber played the tenor sax. 1955 L. Feather Encycl. Jazz 64 A bass sax might be used as a rhythm instrument. 1976 N. Roberts Face of France ix. 102 The moan and scream and shudder of sax and trumpet and drums in the band. |
2. = saxophonist.
| 1926 Melody Maker Mar. 4 Then, for a certainty, you have heard some bad saxes! 1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Saturday iv. 21 In the canteen tomorrow..the Elmdown Six will perform. And I'm one of them. Jack Brimber—tenor sax. 1975 J. McClure Snake vi. 86 I'm the tickler. Pianist... Drums and sax were here, but they've gone..to get pissed. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as sax-man, sax-player; sax section, the wind section of a dance or jazz band.
| 1955 L. Feather Encycl. Jazz 118 Christy, June, singer... Married Kenton's tenor saxman, Bob Cooper. 1972 Jazz & Blues Sept. 10/1 Clarence Ford, sax-man with Fats Domino, is typical in this respect. |
| 1926 Whiteman & McBride Jazz iii. 67 ‘Well,’ said the biggest sax player, ‘we didn't know what you would want us to do.’ 1980 M. Booth Bad Track ix. 158 The sax-player could see a tired desperation..in her eyes. |
| 1932 Melody Maker Jan. 11/2 Eddie Pratt, Sid Cole, and Stanley Quiddington, saxophones, the latter being previously together as Jay Whidden's sax section. 1977 J. Wainwright Do Nothin' viii. 124 The sax section—Ric..fills it out, with the tenor..he doubles clarinet (like most sax men). |
Hence ˈsaxist, a saxophonist.
| 1939 Melody Maker 13 May 3 (heading) Dutch saxist collects band. 1952 B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. (1958) xv. 178 Harry Carney joined the band..first as an alto saxist. 1969 Guardian 23 Aug. 6/4 No tenor saxist of the fifties would take the stand without a one-note stutter in his vocabulary. 1975 Gramophone Aug. 375/3 ‘The Foremost!’ is devoted to three tenors and a baritone saxist from the bop era. |