axe

See also: Axe and axé

English

Etymology 1

An axe

From Middle English ax, axe, ex, from Old English æx, from Proto-Germanic *akwisī, probably from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʷs-ih₂- (“axe”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”). Compare German Axt, Danish økse, Icelandic öxi, and also Latin ascia.

Alternative forms

• ax (largely US)

Pronunciation

• enPR: ăks, IPA^(key): /æks/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æks

Noun

axe (plural axes)

1. A tool for felling trees or chopping wood etc. consisting of a heavy head flattened to a blade on one side, and a handle attached to it.
2. An ancient weapon consisting of a head that has one or two blades and a long handle.
3. (informal) A dismissal or rejection.

   His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe.

   • 1975, Bob Dylan, Tangled Up in Blue

     I had a job in the great North Woods

     Workin' as a cook for a spell.

     But I never did like it all that much

     And one day the axe just fell.

   Synonyms: chop, pink slip, sack, boot

4. (slang, music) A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
5. (finance) A position, interest, or reason in buying and selling stock, often with ulterior motives.

   A financial dealer has an axe in a stock that his buyers don't know about, giving him an advantage in making the most profit.

   Those stocks are losing value quickly; he's axed to sell now before they drop even lower.

Usage notes

• In the United States, this spelling is sometimes used to distinguish the weapon from the tool, though most people use either "ax" or less commonly "axe" for both senses.

Derived terms

Terms derived from axe

• axeman

• battle axe

• have an axe to grind

Translations

tool

• Abaza: кӏвагъа (ḳvāγā)
• Abkhaz: аиха (āixā)
• Adyghe: отыч (otəč), обзэгъу (obzăġ°), майтэ (mājtă), ощы (oš̍ə)
• Afrikaans: byl
• Albanian: sëpatë (sq)
• Arabic: فَأْس‎‎ (ar) m (faʾs)
• Armenian: կացին (hy) (kacʿin)
• Assamese: কুঠাৰ (kuthar)
• Asturian: hacha f
• Avar: гӏащтӏи (ʿaš̄ṭi)
• Azerbaijani: balta (az)
• Bashkir: балта (balta)
• Basque: aizkora
• Belarusian: сяке́ра f (sjakjéra), тапо́р m (tapór)
• Bengali: কুঠার (kuṭhar)
• Bulgarian: бра́два (bg) f (brádva)
• Burmese: ပုဆိန် (my) (pu.hcin)
• Catalan: destral (ca) f, atxa (ca) f
• Chamicuro: ame
• Chechen: диг (dig)
• Chichewa: nkhwangwa
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 斧頭, 斧头 (fu² tau^4-2)

  Mandarin: (formal) 斧頭 (zh), 斧头 (zh) (fǔtóu), 斧 (zh), 斧 (zh) (fǔ), (informal) 斧子 (zh) (fǔzi)

• Chuukese: kouk
• Chuvash: пуртӑ (purtă)
• Crimean Tatar: balta
• Czech: sekera (cs) f
• Dalmatian: sčor f
• Danish: økse (da) c
• Dargwa: барда (barda)
• Dhivehi: ކޯރާޑި‎‎ (kōrāḍi)
• Dutch: bijl (nl) f, hakbijl (nl) f
• Erzya: узере (uzere)
• Esperanto: hakilo
• Estonian: kirves (et)
• Faroese: øks f
• Finnish: kirves (fi)
• French: hache (fr) f, cognée (fr) f
• Friulian: manarie
• Georgian: ცული (ka) (culi), ნაჯახი (ka) (naǯaxi)
• German: Axt (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌵𐌹𐌶𐌹 f (aqizi)
• Greek: τσεκούρι (el) n (tsekoúri)

  Ancient: ἀξίνη f (axínē)

• Gujarati: કુહાડી (kuhāḍī)
• Hausa: gā̀tarī m
• Hebrew: גַּרְזֶן‎‎ (he) m (garzen)
• Hindi: कुल्हाड़ी (hi) f (kulhāṛī)
• Hungarian: fejsze (hu), balta (hu), szekerce (hu)
• Icelandic: öxi (is) f, exi f
• Ido: hakilo (io)
• Indonesian: kapak (id)
• Ingush: диг (dig)
• Interlingua: hacha
• Irish: tua (ga) f
• Italian: ascia (it) f, accetta (it) f, scure (it)
• Japanese: 斧 (ja) (おの, ono), アックス (akkusu)
• Kabardian: джыдэ (ǯ̍ədă)
• Kannada: ಕೊಡ್ಲಿ (kn) (koḍli), ಕುಠಾರ (kn) (kuṭhāra)
• Karachay-Balkar: балта (balta)
• Karelian: kirves
• Kazakh: балта (kk) (balta)
• Khmer: ពូថៅ (km) (puu tʰav)
• Komi-Permyak: чер (čer)
• Korean: 도끼 (ko) (dokki)
• Kumyk: балта (balta)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: балт’ә (balt’e)

  Sorani: ته‌ور‎‎ (ku)

• Kyrgyz: балта (ky) (balta)
• Lak: рикӏ (riḳ)
• Lao: ຂວານ (lo) (khuān)
• Latgalian: ciervs m
• Latin: ascia f, securis f
• Latvian: cirvis m

• Lezgi: якӏв (äḳv)
• Lithuanian: kirvis
• Low German: Ax, Äx, Ex
• Macedonian: се́кира f (sékira)
• Malay: kapak
• Malayalam: കോടാലി (ml) (kōṭāli)
• Maltese: mannara f
• Maori: toki
• Mapudungun: toki
• Marathi: कुर्हाड (kurhāḍ)
• Moksha: узерь (uzerʹ)
• Mongolian: сүх (mn) (süh)
• Navajo: tsénił
• Nenets: тубка (tubka)
• Nepali: please add this translation if you can
• Nganasan: тобәкәә (tobĕkĕĕ)
• Ngazidja Comorian: soha
• Ngunawal: umbagong
• Norman: hache f
• Norwegian: øks (no) m
• Occitan: pigassa (oc) f, manaira (oc) f
• Old Norse: øx f
• Oriya: କୁରାଢୀ (kurāḍhī)
• Osage: mą́ąhįspe
• Ossetian: фӕрӕт (færæt)
• Pashto: تبرګۍ‎‎ (tabargəy)
• Persian: تبر‎‎ (fa) (tabar)
• Polish: siekiera (pl) f
• Portuguese: machado (pt) m
• Romanian: topor (ro) n, secure (ro) f
• Romansch: sigir f, siir f, sagir f, sieir f, sgür f, manera
• Russian: топо́р (ru) m (topór), колу́н (ru) m (kolún) (heavy), секи́ра (ru) f (sekíra) (pole-axe or a kind of weapon)
• Sardinian: destrale, bestrale, segura, segure, seguri
• Scottish Gaelic: tuagh f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сѐкира f, сјѐкира f

  Roman: sèkira (sh) f, sjèkira (sh) f

• Sicilian: sciunetta f, ascia (scn) f, cugnata (scn) f
• Sinhalese: පොරොව (porova)
• Skolt Sami: ähšš
• Slovak: sekera (sk) f
• Slovene: sekira (sl) f
• Spanish: hacha (es) f
• Svan: კა̄და (ḳāda)
• Swahili: shoka (sw) class 5/6
• Swedish: yxa (sv) c
• Tabasaran: екӏв (eḳ°)
• Tagalog: palakol
• Tai Dam: khoan
• Tajik: табар (tabar)
• Tamil: கோடரி (ta) (kōṭari)
• Taos: kwóna
• Tat: тэвэр
• Tatar: балта (tt) (balta)
• Telugu: గొడ్డలి (te) (goḍḍali)
• Thai: ขวาน (th) (kwǎan)
• Tibetan: སྟ་རེ (sta re)
• Tok Pisin: akis, tamiok
• Turkish: balta (tr)
• Turkmen: palta
• Ukrainian: соки́ра (uk) f (sokýra), колу́н (uk) m (kolún) (heavy), топíр m (topír)
• Urdu: کلہاڑی‎‎ f (kulhāṛī)
• Uyghur: پالتا‎‎ (palta)
• Uzbek: bolta (uz)
• Venetian: sigureto m, daldoro m, asa f, daldora f, manara f, manera f
• Vietnamese: rìu (vi)
• Vilamovian: ba̐jł n
• Wauja: e'pi
• Welsh: bwyell f
• West Frisian: bile
• White Hmong: taus
• Xhosa: izembe class 5/6
• Yakut: сүгэ (süge)
• Yiddish: האַק‎‎ f (hak)
• Zhuang: fouj
• Zulu: imbazo

weapon

• Albanian: sëpatë (sq)
• Armenian: կացին (hy) (kacʿin)
• Bashkir: балта (balta)
• Bulgarian: бра́два (bg) (brádva), секи́ра (bg) (sekíra), топо́р (bg) (topór)
• Catalan: destral (ca) f, atxa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (formal) 斧頭 (zh), 斧头 (zh) (fǔtóu), 斧 (zh), 斧 (zh) (fǔ), (informal) 斧子 (zh) (fǔzi)

• Czech: sekera (cs) f
• Danish: økse (da) c, stridsøkse c
• Dutch: bijl (nl) f, strijdbijl (nl) f
• Estonian: kirves (et), sõjakirves
• Finnish: tappara (fi), kirves (fi)
• French: hache (fr) f
• Georgian: ცული (ka) (culi), ნაჯახი (ka) (naǯaxi)
• German: Streitaxt (de) f
• Greek: πέλεκυς (el) m (pélekys)

  Ancient Greek: πέλεκυς m (pélekus)

• Ido: hakilo (io)
• Indonesian: kapak (id)
• Irish: tua (ga) f
• Italian: ascia (it) f
• Japanese: 斧 (ja) (おの, ono), アックス (akkusu)
• Korean: 도끼 (ko) (dokki)

• Latin: securis f
• Latvian: cirvis m
• Maltese: mannara f
• Ngarrindjeri: drekurmi
• Ngunawal: umbagong
• Norman: hache f
• Norwegian: øks (no) m, stridsøks m
• Persian: تبرزین‎‎ (fa) (tabarzin)
• Polish: topór (pl) m
• Portuguese: machado (pt) m
• Romanian: secure (ro) f, topor (ro) n
• Russian: топо́р (ru) m (topór), секи́ра (ru) f (sekíra)
• Scottish Gaelic: tuagh f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сјѐкира f, сѐкира f

  Roman: sjèkira (sh) f, sèkira (sh) f

• Slovene: sekira (sl) f
• Spanish: hacha (es)
• Swahili: shoka (sw)
• Swedish: yxa (sv) c, stridsyxa (sv) c
• Uyghur: پالتا‎‎ (palta), ئايپالتا‎‎ (aypalta)
• Welsh: bwyell f

rejection

• Bulgarian: отказ (bg) (otkaz)
• Finnish: potkut (fi), kenkää (fi) (from work); rukkaset (fi) (in love)
• French: couperet (fr) m
• German: Korb (de) m

• Italian: taglio (it) m, scarto (it) m
• Russian: отка́з (ru) m (otkáz)
• Swahili: shoka (sw)
• Uyghur: رەت قىلىش‎‎ (ret qilish)

instrument

• French: gratte (fr) f (lit., "the scratch")

finance: interest in buying or selling

• Finnish: myynti-intressi (interest to sell); osto-intressi (interest to buy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Cherokee: ^{(please verify)} ᎦᎷᏯᏍᏘ (galuyasti)
• Erzya: ^{(please verify)} узере (uzere)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} hacha
• Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} മഴു (ml) (maḻu)

• Maori: ^{(please verify)} toki
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} topor (ro) n, ^{(please verify)} secure (ro) f
• Tupinambá: ^{(please verify)} îy
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} balta (tr)

See also

• adze
• hatchet
• twibill

Verb

axe (third-person singular simple present axes, present participle axing, simple past and past participle axed)

1. (transitive) To fell or chop with an axe.
2. (transitive) To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner.

   The government announced its plans to axe public spending.

   The broadcaster axed the series because far less people than expected watched it.

   He got axed in the last round of firings.

   Synonyms: fire, lay off, downsize

Translations

fell or chop

• Bulgarian: отсичам с брадва (otsičam s bradva)
• Czech: porazit (cs) (to fell a tree), osekávat, otesávat
• Estonian: raiuma
• Greek: τσεκουρώνω (el) (tsekouróno), πελεκώ (el) (pelekó), κόβω (el) (kóvo)
• Latvian: cirst

• Mongolian: сүхдэх (mn) (sühdeh)
• Russian: руби́ть (ru) impf (rubítʹ), поруби́ть (ru) pf (porubítʹ)
• Swahili: shoka (sw)
• Swedish: fälla (sv) (fell a tree); hugga (sv), yxa (sv) (chop)

terminate or reduce tremendously in a rough or ruthless manner

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 腰斩 (zh) (yāozhǎn)

• Greek: περικόπτω (el) (perikópto), τσεκουρώνω (el) (tsekouróno)

• Japanese: 打ち切る (uchikiru)
• Swahili: shoka (sw)
• Yiddish: אונטערהאַקן‎‎ (unterhakn)

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• ax (American)

Noun

axe (plural axes)

1. (archaic) The axle of a wheel.

Verb

axe (third-person singular simple present axes, present participle axing, simple past and past participle axed)

1. To furnish with an axle.

Etymology 3

See ax, aks.

Verb

axe (third-person singular simple present axes, present participle axing, simple past and past participle axed)

1. (now obsolete outside dialects, especially African American Vernacular) Alternative form of ask
   • 1395, John Wycliffe, trans. Bible, 1 Corinthis 14:35:

     But if thei wolen ony thing lerne, at home axe thei her hosebondis; for it is foule thing to a womman to speke in chirche.

   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Luke IIi:

     And the people axed hym, sayinge: What shall we do then.

Anagrams

• exa-

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin axis. Compare the inherited doublet ais.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aks/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

axe m (plural axes)

1. axis
2. axle

Further reading

• “axe” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Interlingua

Noun

axe (plural axes)

1. Straight line that crosses the center of a body and around which it turns.
2. Bar connecting parallel wheels of a kart, wagon, etc.

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Latin

Noun

axe

1. ablative singular of axis

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English æx.

Noun

axe

1. Alternative form of ax

Etymology 2

From Old English ǣsce, from Proto-Germanic *aiskijǭ.

Alternative forms

• as

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aks/

Noun

axe

1. (rare) A ask, demand

Descendants

• English: ask (if not formed from the verb)

References

• “axe (n.(3))” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-24.