Saltire
//ˈsæl.taɪə// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An ordinary (geometric design) in the shape of an X. It usually occupies the entire field in which it is placed.
- 2 a cross resembling the letter x, with diagonal bars of equal length wordnet
- 3 The Saint Andrew's cross, the flag of Scotland.
"But the World Cup winning veteran's left boot was awry again, the attempt sliced horribly wide of the left upright, and the saltires were waving aloft again a moment later when a long pass in the England midfield was picked off to almost offer up a breakaway try."
- 4 The Saint Patrick's Cross, the pre 1922 flag of Ireland.
Example
More examples"That coat of arms has a saltire."
Etymology
From Middle English sawtoure, from Old French sautoir (“stile, saltire”) (compare French sautoir (“saltire”)), from sauter (“to jump, to leap”) + -oir (subject forming nouns denoting physical objects from verbs), from Latin saltāre (“to dance, to jump”) + -orium, -oria.
Related phrases
More for "saltire"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.