ax

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ax"

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: ăks, IPA^(key): /æks/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -æks

Etymology 1

Noun

ax (plural axes)

1. (American spelling) Alternative form of axe.

Derived terms

• axhandle
• axhead
• axless
• axlike
• axman
• axstone
• axwoman
• give the ax

Verb

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

1. (American spelling) Alternative form of axe.

Etymology 2

From Middle English axen, aksen, axien, from Old English ācsian and āxian, showing metathesis from āscian. Ax/aks was common in literary works until about 1600.

Verb

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

1. (now nonstandard or dialectical, especially African-American Vernacular, MLE and Bermuda) Alternative form of ask.
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts:

     When they were come togedder, they axed off hym, sayinge: Master wilt thou at this tyme restore agayne the kyngdom of israhel?

   • 1836, Joanna Baillie, The Alienated Manor, act 4:

     Dolly: And if so be, why did you ax me to keep you company? Housekeeper wants me below to pick raisins.

   • 1879, William Barnes, “The Welshnut Tree”, in Complete Poems, volume 1, page 106:

     Ar try who'l ax em the hardest riddle,
     Ar soonest vind out oone put us, true...

   • 1887, Gilbert and Sullivan, Ruddigore, act 1:

     Richard Dauntless: "But, axin' your pardon, miss, might I be permitted to salute the flag I'm a-goin' to sail under?"

   • 1979, Verna Mae Slone, What My Heart Wants to Tell, page 18:

     ‘I axed him if he knowed the way and he said he had not fergitten the lay of the land.’

   • 2006 Sept. 17, David Mills, "Soft Eyes", The Wire, 00:19:01:

     Wise: Your boy left here a while ago
     Johnson: I ain' lookin' for him. He at his granmother's. I wanted to ax you somethin'.

   • 2013 September 5, James Burton, The Bermuda Sun‎, archived from the original on 12 December 2022:

     He's cool. Does triathlons dahn de Sahn. Don't drink. Ax me if I want a lift to de beach — he hurd it's a dahnce goin on dahn thurr.

Usage notes

• This and related forms of ask have been used since Old English and were long employed in literature and prestige dialects. Chaucer used ask, ax, and axe interchangeably. They remain in use in some rural areas of Britain and Appalachia but are now regarded as nonstandard and are primarily associated with AAVE dialects in the US and MLE or West Country dialects in the UK, as well as being in some Irish English dialects, and sometimes in New Zealand, especially among Maori English speakers.

References

• McWhorter, John. "The 'Ax' versus 'Ask' Question", LA Times, 19 Jan. 2014.

Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

Adverb

ax

1. not

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse ax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /axs/, /aks/

Noun

ax n (genitive singular ax, nominative plural öx)

1. ear (of corn)

Declension

Declension of ax (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ax	axið	öx	öxin
accusative	ax	axið	öx	öxin
dative	axi	axinu	öxum	öxunum
genitive	ax	axins	axa	axanna

Jamaican Creole

Verb

ax

1. alternative spelling of aks
   • 2006, Amina Blackwood-Meeks, “Aiming at your dreams”, in The Jamaica Gleaner‎ (in Jamaican Creole):

     “Well she sey one a de man dem come right up to har car window an show har fe him sign wid him finga, order har outa de plaza like sey it was him personal yaad an ax har if she tink sey chu hooman a go tun Prime Minista she can jus come park which part she have a mind. […] ”

     So she said one of the men walked right up to her car window and pointed at his sign with his finger and ordered her to leave the plaza as if it were his own home. He asked her if she thought that the fact that a woman was going to become Prime Minister that she could just park anywhere she wanted to. […]

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English æx, æcs, from Proto-West Germanic *akusi.

Alternative forms

• axe, ex, exe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aks/
• Rhymes: -aks

Noun

ax (plural axes)

2. An axe (tool)
3. An axe (weapon)

Descendants

• English: axe, ax
• Scots: aix

References

• “ax(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 24 April 2018.

Etymology 2

From Old English eax, from Proto-Germanic *ahsu.

Alternative forms

• ȝex

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aks/
• Rhymes: -aks

Noun

ax (plural axes)

2. (rare) An axle, axletree, pole

Derived terms

• extre

References

• “ax(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 24 April 2018.

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

Akin to Persian خاک (xâk, “earth, soil, dust”). From Proto-Iranian *HáHhah, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- (“to be dry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑːx/

Noun

ax f (Arabic spelling ئاخ)

1. dirt, ground, soil, earth

   Synonyms: erd, xwelî

2. dust

   Synonym: xubar

3. matter

Declension

Declension of ax

definite feminine gender
case	singular	plural
nominative	ax	ax
construct	axa	axên
oblique	axê	axan
demonstrative oblique	wê axê	wan axan
vocative	axê	axino
indefinite feminine gender
case	singular	plural
nominative	axek	axin
construct	axeke	axine
oblique	axekê	axinan

Derived terms

• binax

References

• Chyet, Michael L. (2003), “ax”, in Kurdish–English Dictionary‎, with selected etymologies by Martin Schwartz, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, page 14

Old French

Contraction

ax

1. Contraction of a + les (to the)

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ahsą, from *ahaz (“ear (of grain)”).

Noun

ax n (genitive ax, plural ǫx)

1. ear (of corn)

Declension

Declension of ax (strong a-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ax	axit	ǫx	ǫxin
accusative	ax	axit	ǫx	ǫxin
dative	axi	axinu	ǫxum	ǫxunum
genitive	ax	axins	axa	axanna

Descendants

• Icelandic: ax
• Norwegian Nynorsk: aks
• Norwegian Bokmål: aks
• Old Swedish: ax
  • Swedish: ax
• Danish: aks

Further reading

Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “ax”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French axe, from Latin axis. Doublet of axă and osie.

Noun

ax n (plural axe)

1. axle
2. axis

Declension

Declension of ax

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	ax	axul		axe	axele
genitive-dative	ax	axului		axe	axelor
vocative	axule			axelor

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse ax.

Noun

ax n

1. an ear (fruiting body of a grain plant)

Declension

Declension of ax

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	ax	ax
	definite	axet	axets
plural	indefinite	ax	ax
	definite	axen	axens

Verb

ax (present ax, preterite ax, supine ax, imperative ax)

1. (slang) alternative form of axa

References

• ax in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• ax in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• ax in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• Slangopedia