West Saxon

noun

1. the Old English dialect of the West Saxon kingdom, dominant after a.d. c850 and the medium of nearly all the literary remains of Old English.
2. any of the English of the period before the Norman Conquest who lived in the region south of the Thames and west of Surrey and Sussex.
3. a person whose native tongue was West Saxon.

adjective

1. of or relating to the West Saxons or their dialect.

West Saxon

adjective

1. of or relating to Wessex, its inhabitants, or their dialect

noun

1. the dialect of Old English spoken in Wessex: the chief literary dialect of Old English See also Anglian Kentish
2. an inhabitant of Wessex

Word History and Origins

Origin of West Saxon¹

1350–1400; Middle English, for Old English Westseaxan Wessex; west, Saxon

Example Sentences

Struck at a West Saxon mint, possibly in Southampton or Winchester, the coin bears the King's title 'Ecgbeorht Rex' around a monogram of the word Saxon.

From BBC

History.—At some time in the 7th century the West Saxons pushed their way across the Severn and established themselves in the territory between Wales and Mercia, with which kingdom they soon became incorporated.

From Project Gutenberg

The diocesan limits show that part of the shire was included in the West Saxon kingdom.

From Project Gutenberg

From the Saxons, that is, the country which is now called Old Saxony, came the East Saxons, the South Saxons, and the West Saxons.

From Project Gutenberg

The standard of the West Saxon monarchs was a golden dragon in a red banner.

From Project Gutenberg