noun · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈsæksəˌfəʊ̯n/
General-American:/ˈsæksəˌfoʊ̯n/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:S AE1 K S AH0 F OW2 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A single-reed instrument musical instrument of the woodwind family, usually made of brass and with a distinctive loop bringing the bell upwards.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
I played the saxophone in high school.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sax, gobble-pipe, saxomaphone
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Someone who plays the saxophone; a saxophonist.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
The saxophones typically sit behind the flutes in a concert band.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
To play the saxophone.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
a single-reed woodwind with a conical bore
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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.
Across languages
Translations
82 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
saxofoon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Albanian:
saksofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Arabic:
سَاكْسُفُون
(sāksufūn)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Armenian:
սաքսոֆոն
(sakʻsofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Asturian:
saxofón ms
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Azerbaijani:
saksafon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Basque:
saxofoi
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Belarusian:
саксафо́н
(saksafón)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Bengali:
স্যাক্সোফোন
(sêkśōphōn)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Bulgarian:
саксофо́н
(saksofón)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Burmese:
ဆက်ဆိုဟွန်း
(hcakhcuihwan:)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Catalan:
saxòfon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Catalan:
saxofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Cherokee:
ᎠᏤᎷᎯᏍᏗ
(atseluhisdi)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Chinese Cantonese:
色士風 /色士风
(sik1 si6 fung1)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Chinese Mandarin:
薩克斯管 /萨克斯管
(sàkèsīguǎn)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Chinese Mandarin:
薩克斯風 /萨克斯风
(sàkèsīfēng)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Chinese Mandarin:
薩克斯 /萨克斯
(sàkèsī)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Chinese Mandarin:
薩克管 /萨克管
(sàkèguǎn)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Czech:
saxofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Danish:
saxofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Dutch:
saxofoon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Esperanto:
saksofono
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Estonian:
saksofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Finnish:
saksofoni
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
French:
saxophone
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Galician:
saxofón
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Galician:
saxo
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Georgian:
საქსოფონი
(saksoponi)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
German:
Saxofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Greek:
σαξόφωνο
(saxófono)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Hebrew:
סַקסוֹפוֹן
(saksofón)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Hindi:
सैक्सोफ़ोन
(saiksofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Hindi:
सेक्सोफोन
(seksophon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Hungarian:
szaxofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Icelandic:
saxófónn
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Indonesian:
saksofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Irish:
sacsafón
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Italian:
sassofono
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Japanese:
サクソフォン
(sakusofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Kazakh:
саксофон
(saksofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Khmer:
សាក់សូហ្វូន
(saksoufoun)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Korean:
색소폰
(saeksopon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Kyrgyz:
саксофон
(saksofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Latin:
saxophonus
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Latvian:
saksofons
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Lithuanian:
saksofonas
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Macedonian:
саксофон
(saksofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Malay:
saksofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Maltese:
sassofonu
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Māori:
pūtohe
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Māori:
rehu kōkō
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Marathi:
सॅक्सोफोन
(sĕksophon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Mongolian:
саксофон
(saksofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Mongolian:
ᠰᠠᠻᠰᠣᠹᠣᠨ
(saksofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Norwegian Bokmål:
saksofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Norwegian Nynorsk:
saksofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Persian:
ساکسوفون
(sâksofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Piedmontese:
sassòfon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Polish:
saksofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Portuguese:
saxofone
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Romanian:
saxofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Russian:
саксофо́н
(saksofón)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Serbo-Croatian:
са̏ксофо̄н
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Serbo-Croatian:
sȁksofōn
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Slovak:
saxofón
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Slovene:
saksofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Spanish:
saxofón
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Spanish:
saxófono
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Swahili:
saksafoni
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Swedish:
saxofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Tagalog:
saksopon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Tajik:
саксофон
(saksofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Thai:
แซ็กโซโฟน
(sɛ́k-soo-foon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Turkish:
saksafon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Turkmen:
saksofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Ukrainian:
саксофо́н
(saksofón)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Uyghur:
ساكسىفون
(saksifon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Uzbek:
saksofon
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Vietnamese:
xacxô
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Vietnamese:
xắc xô
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
Yiddish:
סאַקסאָפֿאָן
(saksofon)
— a musical instrument of the woodwind family
