Saxophone
//ˈsæksəfoʊn// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A single-reed instrument musical instrument of the woodwind family, usually made of brass and with a distinctive loop bringing the bell upwards.
"I played the saxophone in high school."
- 2 a single-reed woodwind with a conical bore wordnet
- 3 Someone who plays the saxophone; a saxophonist.
"The saxophones typically sit behind the flutes in a concert band."
Verb
- 1 To play the saxophone.
Example
More examples"Kenny Gorelick murdered the soprano saxophone."
Etymology
Borrowed from French saxophone, a combination of the surname of its inventor Adolphe Sax (1814–1894) + -o- + -phone (“something that makes a sound”), from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, voice”). The first element surname is a variant of the German Sachs (“Saxon”). Analyzable as Sax + -o- + -phone.
Related phrases
More for "saxophone"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.