ax

See also: AX, Ax, ax̱, .ax, -ax, and ах

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: ăks, IPA^(key): /æks/
• Rhymes: -æks

Etymology 1

Noun

ax (plural axes)

1. (American spelling) Alternative form of axe

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 Old English acsian/axian, showing metathesis from ascian. Ax/aks was the regular literary form until about 1600.

Verb

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

1. (now dialectal or nonstandard, especially African American Vernacular) Alternative form of ask

   1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts I:

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

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

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

   1979, Verna Mae Slone, What My Heart Wants to Tell, Kentucky 1988, p. 18:

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

Usage notes

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition (2000), the form “ax” is now associated with African American Vernacular English, but in the past it was common among “white” Americans as well, especially in New England, and is a feature of some British dialects. It was a common word in English for a thousand years (Chaucer used both forms interchangeably), but is now stigmatized as substandard. This is similar to the case of words like ain't which were also acceptable in the past.

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Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

Adverb

ax

1. not

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Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse ax, from Proto-Germanic *ahsą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /axs/
• IPA^(key): /aks/

Noun

ax n (genitive singular ax, nominative plural öx)

1. ear (of corn)

Declension

declension of ax

n-s	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

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Jamaican Creole

Alternative forms

• aax, hax

Verb

ax

1. ask

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Middle English

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• axe, ex, exe, æxæ, æxe

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 2018-04-24.

Etymology 2

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

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 2018-04-24.

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Old French

Contraction

ax

1. Contraction of a + les (to the)

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Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ahsą.

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
• Swedish: ax
• Westrobothnian: aks
• Danish: aks

References

ax in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

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Swedish

Noun

ax n

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

Declension

Declension of ax
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	ax	axet	ax	axen
Genitive	ax	axets	ax	axens