saxophone

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a usually brass, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical tube and finger-operated keys

   The saxophone carried the melody above the rhythm section.

2. 2
   noun

   a saxophone player or the saxophone section of an ensemble, by metonymy

   The saxophone entered after the trumpets with a softer countermelody.

Simplified etymology

Saxophone dates from the mid-19th century and belongs to the sound-related word family traced to Greek phōnein, “to speak.” The instrument was invented by the Belgian Adolphe Sax in 1840.

Borrowed from French saxophone, formed from the surname of its Belgian inventor Adolphe Sax (1814-1894) + Greek-derived -phone, 'sound or sounding instrument.' Sax patented the instrument family in the 1840s.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary