axis Latin · revision 31340

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=220–130 BC, Pacuvius|origins=ine-pro *h₂eḱs-(i-)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈak.sɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈak.sis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''axis''' ''m'' (genitive axis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*aksi-|t=axle]], [[inh|ine-pro|*h₂eḱs-(i-)|t=axle, armpit]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[cy|echel|t=axle]], [[sa|अक्ष|tr=ákṣa|t=axle]], [[grc|ἄξων|tr=áxōn|t=axle]], [[lt|ašìs|t=axle]] and [[ang|eax|t=axle]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan notes that the stem in ⟨-i-⟩ may not be of Indo-European date, and that [[m|la|āla|t=wing, armpit]] and [[m|la|axilla|t=armpit]] go back to a related Italic form; the root may be that of [[ine-pro|*h₂eǵ-|t=to lead]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Pacuvius,^(de Vaan 2008) who has a chariot that “runs on a swift axle with four horses”;^(OLD 2012) Köbler gives Cato.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is an axle or axletree, as Virgil's glowing axle that flies along, and by extension a chariot or wagon, as Propertius' chariots loaded with Caesar's spoils.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) In machines it is an axle or spindle, as in Vitruvius, and in architecture the axis of a volute.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It is the line through the earth's centre on which the universe was thought to turn, as Varro of Atax' heaven turning on its axis, the celestial north pole or pole star, as in Accius, and the vault of heaven, as Virgil's Atlas who turns the sky on his shoulder; it is also a region of the sky or clime.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “axle, axis; wheel; heavens, pole”.^(Stelten 1995) English ''axis'' in the 1540s was the line about which a body turns.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 220–130 BC – Pacuvius of a chariot's axle.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of the north pole.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of axles in machines.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of the vault of heaven.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1540s – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|axis]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|axle|alt=axle]], axletree;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) ''(by extension)'' a chariot, wagon.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # An axle or spindle (of a machine); the axis of a volute.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The [[m|en|axis]] of the world.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The celestial [[m|en|pole]]; the pole star.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # The vault of heaven, sky; a region of the sky, clime.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[axiculus]]

+ * [[axungia]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[āla]]

+ * [[axilla]]

+ * [[agō]]

+ * [[en|axis]]

+ * [[en|axle]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two other words are spelled ''axis'':^(OLD 2012) one, also ''assis'', is a plank or board, compared with ''asser'' and ''assula'';^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) Döderlein calls ''axēs'' or ''assēs'' unworked boards as they come from the saw, unlike smoothed ''tabulae''.^(Döderlein 1874) The other, of unknown origin, is an Indian animal in Pliny the Elder, perhaps the spotted deer.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}