Axis

How to spell axis

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce axis

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does axis mean?

1. nounAn imaginary straight line about which a body rotates or is symmetrically arranged, or a fixed reference line used for measurement.

Axis in a sentence

• The earth spins on its axis once every twenty-four hours.

• Plot the time values along the horizontal axis of the graph.

Where does axis come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word was taken directly from the Latin axis, which literally meant 'axle' or 'pivot', the rod on which a wheel turns. The Romans used it both for the physical axle of a cart and, by extension, for the imaginary central line of the sky or the earth. The root reaches back much further to an ancient Indo-European source that also gave Greek axon and Sanskrit aksa, all carrying the same idea of a turning rod. English adopted the Latin form unchanged in the early 1500s, first in astronomy and geometry, and the word kept its Latin shape right down to the irregular plural 'axes'. That preserved Latin spelling, with the single x and the -is ending, is the main thing to remember; it is not spelled like the everyday 'axes' meaning chopping tools.

How the word is built

• ax- (Latin axis: axle, pivot)
• -is (Latin noun ending)