English Explanatory Dictionary

axle

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Shoulder.
noun
  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. An axis.

Pronunciation

/ˈæksəl/ En-us-axle.oga

Word forms

axle axles

Etymology

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”) (whence English axis, atelier, and via Latin āla English ala, aisle), Ancient Greek ἄξων (áxōn) (whence English axo-, axon), Greek άξονας (áxonas, “axle”), Sanskrit अक्ष (ákṣa, “axle”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣá, “room, armpit”), Russian ось (osʹ, “axle”).

Related words

Axle in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Derived words

axlebox axle box axle-box axle counter axled axle-driven axle guard axle hitch axle-hung axleless axle load axleload axle loading axlerod axless axle stand axle tooth axle weight axleweight blind axle centre-axle trailer crank axle cross axle dead axle driving axle interaxle kingpin to rear axle leading axle Muley axle stub axle trailing axle transaxle triaxle wheel and axle
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