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Added 9 October 2026

axe

/æks/ noun

In Latin: ascia, secūris Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about axe at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

An edge tool with a heavy bladed head mounted across a handle.

verb

Chop or split with an ax.
axe wood
Terminate.
The NSF axed the research program and stopped funding it

Origin

From Middle English ax, axe, ex, from Old English æx (“axe”), from Proto-West Germanic *akusi (“axe”), from Proto-Germanic *akwisī (“axe”), probably from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʷsih₂ (“axe”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”). Cognate with Scots aix (“axe”), Dutch aks (“axe”), German Axt (“axe”), Danish økse (“axe”), Faroese, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk øks (“axe”), Icelandic öxi (“axe”), Swedish yxa (“axe”), Latin ascia (“axe, mason's trowel”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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