anglo-saxon Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a native or inhabitant of England prior to the Norman Conquest
  2. noun a person of Anglo-Saxon (especially British) descent whose native tongue is English and whose culture is strongly influenced by English culture as in WASP for `White Anglo-Saxon Protestant'
    • in the ninth century the Vikings began raiding the Anglo-Saxons in Britain
    • his ancestors were not just British, they were Anglo-Saxons
  3. noun English prior to about 1100
    Old English.
  4. adjective of or relating to the Anglo-Saxons or their language
    • Anglo-Saxon poetry
    • The Anglo-Saxon population of Scotland

WordNet

An"glo-Sax"on noun
Etymology
L. Angli-Saxones English Saxons.
Definitions
  1. A Saxon of Britain, that is, an English Saxon, or one the Saxons who settled in England, as distinguished from a continental (or "Old") Saxon.
  2. pl. The Teutonic people (Angles, Saxons, Jutes) of England, or the English people, collectively, before the Norman Conquest.
    It is quite correct to call Æthelstan "King of the Anglo-Saxons," but to call this or that subject of Æthelstan "an Anglo-Saxon" is simply nonsense. E. A. Freeman.
  3. The language of the English people before the Conquest (sometimes called Old English). See Saxon.
  4. One of the race or people who claim descent from the Saxons, Angles, or other Teutonic tribes who settled in England; a person of English descent in its broadest sense.
An"glo-Sax"on adjective
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining to the Anglo-Saxons or their language.

Webster 1913