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Origin and history of axis

axis(n.)

1540s, "imaginary motionless straight line around which a body (such as the Earth) rotates," from Latin axis "axle, pivot, axis of the earth or sky," from PIE *aks- "axis" (source also of Old English eax, Old High German ahsa "axle;" Greek axon "axis, axle, wagon;" Sanskrit aksah "an axle, axis, beam of a balance;" Lithuanian ašis "axle").

The general sense of "straight line about which parts are arranged" is from 1660s. The figurative sense in world history of "alliance between Germany and Italy" (later extended unetymologically to include Japan) is from 1936. The original reference was to a "Rome-Berlin axis" in central Europe. The word later was used in reference to a London-Washington axis (World War II) and a Moscow-Peking axis (early Cold War).

also from 1540s

Entries linking to axis

abaxile(adj.)

"not in the axis," 1847, from Latin ab "away from" (see ab-) + axile "of or belonging to an axis," from axis.

aisle(n.)

late 14c., ele, "lateral division of a church" (usually separated from the nave or transept by a row of pillars), from Old French ele "wing (of a bird or an army), side of a ship" (12c., Modern French aile), from Latin ala, related to or contracted from axilla "wing, upper arm, armpit; wing of an army," from PIE *aks-la-, suffixed form of root *aks- "axis" (see axis). The notion is of "turning," which also connects it with axle.

It was confused from 15c. with unrelated Middle English ile "island" (perhaps from notion of a "detached" part of a church), and so it took an unetymological -s- c. 1700 when isle did; by 1750 it had acquired an a-, on the model of French cognate aile. English aisle perhaps also was confused with alley, which helped give it the sense of "passage between rows of pews or seats" (1731), which subsequently was extended to railway cars, theaters, Congress, etc.

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Trends of axis

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

aleatory
"of uncertain outcome, depending on a contingent event," literally "depending on the throw of a die," 1690s, from Latin aleatorius "pertaining to a gamester," from aleator "a dice player," from alea "a game with dice; chance, hazard, risk; a die, the dice;" perhaps literally "a j
ashlar
"square stone for building or paving," mid-14c., from Old French aisseler, Medieval Latin arsella "a little board or shingle," diminutive of Latin assis "a board, plank," also spelled axis, which is perhaps not the same axis that means "axle." De Vaan regards the Latin spelling a
axle
"pole or pin upon which a wheel revolves" (properly, the round ends of the axle-tree which are inserted in the hubs or naves of the wheels), 1630s, from Middle English axel-, from some combination of Old English eax and Old Norse öxull "axis," both from Proto-Germanic *akhsulaz (
pole
"northern or southern end of Earth's axis," late 14c., from Old French pole or directly from Latin polus "end of an axis;..." also "the sky, the heavens" (a sense sometimes used in English from 16c.), from Greek polos "pivot, axis of a sphere, the...revolve; also sometimes of the terrestrial poles (poles of this world), the two points on the Earth's surface which mark the axis...
oblique
As a noun in anatomy in reference to a type of muscle the direction of whose fibers is oblique to the long axis of the body...or to the long axis of the part acted, by 1838....
turbine
Originally applied to a wheel spinning on a vertical axis driven by falling water, later of mechanisms driven by the flow...
pulley
and Klein is probably from Medieval Greek *polidia, plural of *polidion "little pivot," diminutive of Greek polos "pivot, axis...
steel
modified form of iron produced with a small portion of carbon, not found in nature but known in ancient times, Middle English stele, from Old English style "steel," from noun use of Proto-Germanic adjective *stakhlijan "made of steel" (source also of Old Saxon stehli, Old Norse,
stele
"ancient upright slab," usually inscribed or elaborately sculptured, 1820, from Greek stēlē "standing block, slab," especially one bearing an inscription, such as a gravestone or milestone. This probably is from PIE *stal-na-, suffixed form of root *stel- "to put, stand, put in o
sleet
c. 1300, slete, "precipitation of mingled snow and rain," probably from an unrecorded Old English *slete, *slyte, which is perhaps related to Middle High German sloz, Middle Low German sloten (plural) "hail," from Proto-Germanic *slautjan- (source also of dialectal Norwegian slut

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