axle definition

English axle definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæksəl/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -æksəl
• Homophones: axel, axil

Etymology 1

From Middle English axel, axle, eaxle, from Old English eaxl (“shoulder, armpit”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahslu (“shoulder”), from Proto-Germanic *ahslō (“shoulder”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs-l-eh₂, from *h₂eḱs- (“axis, axle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian acsle (“shoulder”), Dutch oksel (“armpit”), German Achsel (“armpit”), Swedish axel (“shoulder”), Latin axilla (“armpit”), Latin axis (“axle”), Greek άξονας (áxonas, “axle”), Sanskrit अक्ष (ákṣa, “axle”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣá, “room, armpit”), Russian ось (osʹ, “axle”).

Noun

axle (plural axles)

1. (obsolete) Shoulder.

Etymology 2

From Middle English axil, in turn a combination of Old English eax and Old Norse ǫxull.

Noun

axle (plural axles)

1. The pin or spindle on which a wheel revolves, or which revolves with a wheel.
2. A transverse bar or shaft connecting the opposite wheels of a car or carriage; an axletree.
3. (geometry, astronomy, archaic) An axis.

   the Sun's axle

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• axle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Axle in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• Alex, Axel, Lexa, axel

Middle English axle definition

Etymology 1

From Old English eaxl.

Noun

axle

1. Alternative form of axel

Etymology 2

A conflation of Old English eax and Old Norse ǫxull.

Noun

axle

1. Alternative form of axil