Saxony
/ˈsæk.sə.ni/noun
A historical region and former kingdom in Germany, named after the Saxons.
Did you know?The region’s name ultimately comes from the Saxons, whose ethnonym is linked to the seax, a short sword or knife, so a modern place-name preserves a weapon-root from early Germanic history.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*sahsą
“knife, sword”
Old English
OE
seax
“a knife or short sword”
Old English / Early Medieval Latin
OE/Latin
Seaxe / Saxones
“the Saxons, a Germanic people”
Middle High German
MHG
Sachsen
“the Saxons; their lands”
Modern English
English
Saxony
“the historical region in Germany named for the Saxons”