ἄξων

Forms

ἄξων (áxōn) m (genitive ἄξονος); third declension^[1] Mycenaean Greek a-ko-so-ne axles (nominative plural).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *aksōn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- (“axle, axis”), an old technical noun.^[1][4][5] Beekes, Chantraine and the NIL give its cognates, made with different suffixes: Sanskrit अक्ष (ákṣa-, “axle”), Latin axis, Lithuanian ašìs and Old High German ahsa, all meaning “axle”.^[4][3][5] Derivatives in ⟨-l-⟩ include āla (“armpit, wing”), from *aks-lā.^[4][5]

A link with ἄγω (ágō) has been proposed, but Beekes and Chantraine call it uncertain.^[4][3][2] Beekes thinks it improbable that the word is contained in ἅμαξα (hámaxa), while the NIL puts that word under the same root.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Mycenaean tablets already list axles, a-ko-so-ne.^[2][3] In Homer it is the axle of a chariot: men fall under the axles in the Iliad, and an iron axle is named.^[6][2][7]

Semantic evolution

From the axle of a wagon the word passed to other pivots: the pivots of a door in Parmenides, the smooth round bits of a bridle in Xenophon, the shaft of a machine.^[6][8][2] In Athens the axones were the wooden panels on which Solon's laws were written, which turned on an axis, and Demosthenes and Plutarch mention them.^[6][8]

Geometry and astronomy took it for an axis: Aristotle speaks of the axis of a cone, Archimedes of a cylinder's, and Aratus of the axis of the heavens.^[6] In the Septuagint Proverbs it is figurative, the course of one's conduct.^[6]

Modern Greek άξονας (áksonas) is the learned continuation of the ancient word: it names an axle and an axis, with senses taken from French axe, and also the political “axis”, a sense taken from German Achse.^[9][10]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – The tablets list axles.^[2]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it for the axle of a chariot.^[6][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Parmenides uses it for the pivots of a door.^[6][8][2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses the plural for the round bits of a bridle.^[8][2]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the axis of a cone, and Demosthenes for the tablets of Solon's laws.^[6][2]
• 3rd century BC – Archimedes uses it for the axis of a cylinder.^[6][2]
• Modern Greek – άξονας (áksonas) means “axle” and “axis”, including the political sense.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. An axle, of a chariot or wagon.^[6][8]
2. A pivot of a door; the shaft of a machine.^[8][2]
3. (in the plural) Smooth round bits of a horse's bridle.^[8]
4. (geometry, astronomy) An axis, of a cone or cylinder, or of the heavens.^[6]
5. (in the plural) The revolving wooden tablets on which Solon's laws were written at Athens.^[6][8]
6. (Septuagint, figurative) The course or path of one's conduct.^[6]

Word family

• ἀξόνιον (axónion)

Related words

• ἅμαξα (hámaxa)
• Latin axis
• Latin āla

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b c d Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ a b c d e Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας