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coaxial

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Etymology and origin of the English word coaxial

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1850 More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origins
English co-Proto-Italic *aksi-Anglo-Norman -al
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin axis
Spanish eje
English axis
English axial
English coaxial
From the same root
Latin āla ← axis

Pronunciation

  • UK: /kəʊˈæk.sɪi.əl/[1]
  • US: /koʊˈæk.sɪi.əl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English co- + axial,[2][3][4][5] or, as the OED and Barnhart analyse it, from co-, axis and the suffix -al.[6][7] Etymonline notes the earlier coaxal (1847).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having a common axis, as a term in mathematics: 1850 according to Etymonline.[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged date the word to 1881,[7][3] and Dictionary.com to 1880–85;[5] the OED gives the mathematical sense without a date and first quotes the word in 1904.[6]

Semantic evolution

From geometry, where it described figures sharing an axis, the word passed into technical use in electrical engineering (1904).[6] In 1934 it was applied to propellers mounted on concentric shafts, and to the coaxial line, a conductor surrounded by a tube with the same axis;[6][7] coaxial cable, a cable of several such lines, followed in 1934 according to the OED and Etymonline, and in 1936 according to Barnhart.[6][2][7]

Timeline

  • 1850 – mathematics, having a common axis.[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged date the word to 1881.[7][3]
  • 1904 – in technical uses, especially electrical.[6]
  • 1934 – of propellers, mounted on concentric shafts.[6] Also coaxial cable.[6][2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having a common axis, or mounted on or turning about the same axis: coaxial cylinders.[8][3][4]
  2. (geometry) Of a set of circles, having all their centres on one straight line.[8]
  3. Of propellers or rotors, mounted on concentric shafts and turning independently.[3][6]
  4. Made of, using or connected to coaxial cable, a cable in which a central conductor is surrounded by a tubular one with the same axis.[8][4][6]

Word family

  • coaxially
  • coaxial cable

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Coaxial.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/coaxial. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·