axle
/ˈæksəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.49 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A transverse bar or shaft connecting the opposite wheels of a car or carriage; an axletree.
Example Sentences
Etymology
From Middle English axel, axle, eaxle, from Old English eaxl (“shoulder, armpit”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahslu (“shoulder”), from Proto-Germanic *ahslō (“shoulder”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs-l-eh₂, from *h₂eḱs- (“axis, axle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian acsle (“shoulder”), Dutch oksel (“armpit”), German Achsel (“armpit”), Swedish axel (“shoulder”), Latin axilla (“armpit”), Latin axis (“axle”) (whence English axis, atelier, and via Latin āla English ala, aisle), Ancient Greek ἄξων (áxōn) (whence English axo-, axon), Greek άξονας (áxonas, “axle”), Sanskrit अक्ष (ákṣa, “axle”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣá, “room, armpit”), Russian ось (osʹ, “axle”).
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Axle in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)