English
axis
Axis comes from Latin axis ‘axle, axis’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱs-‘axle, axis’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aksisreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaxis‘axle, axis’
- Englishearliest quotation 1936axis
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱs-‘axle, axis’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aksisreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaxis‘axle, axis’
- Englishearliest quotation 1936axis
Earliest quotation: 1936, Francisco Franco: “This Berlin-Madrid vertical line is not an obstacle but…”
The story
Via Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- cognate with inherited English axle and borrowed axo-, axon.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- ‘axle, axis’
through Proto-Italic *aksis
through Latin axis ‘axle, axis’
Today it means
noun An imaginary line around which an object spins (an axis of rotation) or is symmetrically arranged (an axis of symmetry).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- / axis