Axes

How to spell axes

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce axes

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does axes mean?

1. nounMore than one axe; the chopping tools with a heavy bladed head on a handle.
2. nounMore than one axis; the reference lines on a graph, or the lines a body rotates around.
3. verbThird-person singular of to axe: to cut, cancel, or abruptly end something such as jobs or projects.

Axes in a sentence

• noun

  The forestry crew sharpened their axes before clearing the fallen trees.

• noun

  The chart labels both axes, with time across the bottom and revenue up the side.

• verb

  Whenever the budget tightens, management axes the smallest projects first.

• noun

  The museum displayed several bronze axes recovered from the old settlement.

• noun

  The engineer measured rotation around all three axes of the spacecraft.

• verb

  The new director routinely axes programmes that fail to turn a profit.

Where does axes come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This single spelling sits on top of two unrelated ancestors, which is exactly what makes it tricky. When it means cutting tools, it is the plural of axe, a thoroughly native word that comes from Old English æx, itself from a Germanic root shared with the Dutch aaks and the German Axt; that family stretches back to an ancient root meaning a tool for hewing. When it means reference lines or lines of symmetry, it is the plural of axis, which English took directly from the Latin axis, meaning an axle or the pivot a wheel turns on; the same Latin word gives us axle through a different route. Mathematicians and astronomers revived the Latin plural form, so axis becomes axes and is pronounced with a long vowel at the end. The tool word keeps the older Germanic look and a short, flat final syllable. Because both plurals collapse into the identical written form axes, the spelling itself is stable; the real challenge is knowing which word, and which pronunciation, you are dealing with.

How the word is built

• ax(e) (cutting tool, from Old English æx)
• -es (plural); also serves as the plural of axis (Latin axis, axle) and as the third-person singular of the verb to axe