Where does “sax” come from?
sax (Middle English) comes from Old English seax, from Proto-West Germanic sahs, from Proto-Germanic sahsą, from Proto-Indo-European sek- — to cut, cut off, sever.
sax (Middle English): A knife
Ancestry of “sax”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | seax | knife, dagger |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | sahs | dagger, knife |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | sahsą | a stone chip used for cutting; dagger, knife |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | sek- | to cut, cut off, sever |