axisn.1
/ˈaksɪs/, U.S. /ˈæksəs/ I. Axis of rotation or revolution.
1.
a. The axle of a wheel. ? Obsolete. wheel and axis, axis in peritrochio: the Wheel-and-Axle, one of the mechanical powers.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > wheel > [noun] > parts of wheels > axle
axle-treec1400
axisa1620
arbor1659
ax-tree1659
axle1730
turning-beam1766
stud centre1851
stub-axle1875
crank-axle1887
banjo axle1922
a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. xi. §1. 310 The weightines of the wheele doth settle it vpon his Axis.
1671 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 6 2286 The Excellent Author..treats, amongst other things, of the Five Mathematical Powers..; which are Vectis, Axis in Peritrochio, Trochlea, Cochlea, & Cuneus (the Leaver, Winch, Pulley, Screw, and Wedge).
1702 tr. J. Ozanam Math. Dict. (at cited word) Mechanick Powers or Principles are commonly reckoned six, viz. the Libra or Balance, 2 Vectis or Lever, 3 Trochlea or Pully, 4 Cochlea or Screw, 5 Axis in Peritrochio or Windlace, and 6 Cuneus or Wedge.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Windmill Like unto the Axis of a Cutlers Grind-Stone.
1744 J. T. Desaguliers Course Exper. Philos. II. 536 Those plain and simple Instruments used at the Coal-pits,..where an Horse going round in a sufficiently large Walk draws round an Axis in Peritrochio.
1796 in C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. I. 178 To construct an axis in peritrochio.
1822 T. Webster Imison's Elem. Sci. & Art (new ed.) I. 37 The wheel and axis may be considered as a kind of perpetual lever.
b. figurative. The ‘pivot’ on which any matter turns.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > essential or central > upon which something depends
harrec1000
pina1538
key1559
pinch1581
axle-treec1600
axlea1634
fulcrum1668
keystone1722
pivot1748
turning-point1836
landmark1859
axis1860
linchpin1954
1860 J. L. Motley Hist. Netherlands (1868) I. v. 169 The axis of the revolt was the religious question.
2. Physiology.
a. A tooth or process on the second cervical vertebra, upon which the head is turned.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > spine > [noun] > vertebra of > processes of
apophysis1611
transverse process1696
axis1701
neurapophysis1840
parapophysis1846
pleurapophysis1848
haemapophysis1849
postzygapophysis1851
anapophysis1854
hypapophysis1854
zygapophysis1854
intercentrum1878
neuroid1887
pleuroid1887
1701 tr. D. Tauvry New Rational Anat. ii. xvi. 268 This second Vertebra has an Apophysis call'd the Tooth..The Head and the first vertebra..are qualified to turn upon that Axis.
1815 Encycl. Brit. III. 289 Axis..the second vertebra of the neck; it hath a tooth which goes into the first vertebra and this tooth is by some called the axis.
b. The vertebra which has the process.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > spine > [noun] > vertebra of > specific vertebra
epistropheus1663
Atlas1699
axisa1713
subdorsal1783
a1713 W. Salmon Ars Anatomica (1714) 249/1 Axis..is a Name which rather befits the former Vertebra, whose Tooth resembles an Axle.
1815 Encycl. Brit. III. 289 Axis..the second vertebra of the neck; it hath a tooth which goes into the first vertebra and this tooth is by some called the axis.
1836 Athenæum No. 450. 419 The Atlas and Axis of the Ichthyosaurus are united.
3. The imaginary straight line about which a body (e.g. the earth or other planet) rotates; the prolongation of that of the earth on which the heavens appear to revolve.The ends of the axis are poles; thence the use of axis as a line from pole to pole, or from end to end: see III.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > celestial sphere > [noun] > axis
axisc1550
axle1596
polar axis1724
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 38 Ȝe sal ymagyn ane lyne that passis throucht the spere lyik til ane extree of ane cart callit axis spere.
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated i. iii. 67 The motion of an iron-wire or needle..vpon his owne Axis.
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. iv. xxvi. 318 The Earth is so carried about the Sunne, as that its Axis is thereby kept always parallel to it self.
1849 M. Somerville On Connexion Physical Sci. (ed. 8) There are at least three axes at right angles to each other round any one of which..the solid..will continue to revolve for ever.
4.
a. figurative. A central prop, which sustains any system (as Atlas was feigned to sustain the revolving heavens). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > most important > support
pillara1555
sinew1579
mainstay1604
axisa1625
backbone1849
a1625 J. Fletcher Valentinian v. v, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ddddddd/2 I have found out Axis, You know he beares the Empire.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 94 The Atlas or maine axis, which supported this opinion, was daily experience. View more context for this quotation
b. figurative. The relation between countries regarded as a common pivot on which they revolve; esp. the political association of 1936 (becoming in 1939 a military alliance) formed between Italy and Germany; later extended to that between Germany, Italy, and Japan; still later to that between other allied countries. Often used attributively, as Axis forces, Axis powers, and elliptically for such phrases, with consequent plural agreement. Also transferred, of any comparable association, or connecting common interest.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > an alliance > specific alliances
auld alliance1566
the League1589
armed neutrality1780
German Confederation1786
Germanic Confederation1815
Holy Alliance1823
the Concert of Europe1841
Sonderbund1847
Triplice1896
Soviet block1919
communist bloc1922
Eastern bloc1922
Soviet bloc1924
axis1936
Rome–Berlin Axis1936
Eastern block1938
communist block1941
Western European Union1944
Arab League1945
Western Union1948
Atlantic Pact1949
NATO1949
North Atlantic Treaty Organization1949
Seato1954
W.E.U.1954
Warsaw Pact1955
Atlantic Alliance1958
ASEAN1967
G201972
society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > ally > group of allied states
community1780
international community1832
Amphictyony1835
power bloc1925
power block1928
axis1936
club1950
1936 Times 3 Nov. 15/1 The ‘Rome–Berlin axis’ is a conceit which has its momentary attractions.
1938 New Statesman 19 Feb. 274/2 He [sc. King Carol of Rumania] will as before try to keep one foot in the Franco-Russian camp and the other in that of the Axis Powers.
1939 Times 6 Feb. 11/1 (headline) Attacks on the Axis.
1941 Time 21 Apr. 34/3 The London–Washington Axis.
1942 Times Weekly 7 Jan. 5 The 26 anti-Axis nations are united..in the broad conduct of the war.
1952 Economist 19 July 145/1 The Moscow–Peking axis.
1952 Economist 22 Nov. 531/1 One [proposal] is for an Old Vic–Stratford axis, with an exchange of productions.
1959 New Statesman 7 Feb. 177/1 The term ‘axis’ is looked on with disfavour here [i.e. in Bonn] as a reminder of the Berlin–Rome–Tokyo axis of the Nazis.
5. The geometrical line, by the revolution of a superficies about which, solids with circular section, as a globe, cylinder, cone, etc., are conceived to be generated.This is the axis of revolution; it coincides necessarily with the axis of symmetry; thence branch II.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > about which solid is generated
axis?a1560
?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) iii. iii. sig. Q ij v The Axis or Altitude of the Cone.
1796 in C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. I. 177 If a semi~circle be moved round its diameter at rest, it will generate a sphere, whose axis is that diameter.
II. Axis of symmetrical arrangement. (Cf. 5)
6. The straight line about which the parts of a body or system are symmetrically arranged. axis of a balance: the line upon which it turns. axis of oscillation (of a pendulum, etc.): a horizontal line passing through the centre of the oscillation, and perpendicular to its plane (Hutton 1796). axis of polarization: the central line round which the prismatic rings or curves are arranged. neutral axis (of a girder): the line where there is neither compression nor tension (Brewster).
7. Geometry. Any line in a regular figure which divides it into two symmetrical parts, e.g., which joins opposite angles or the centres of opposite sides; in a conic section, the line from the principal vertex or vertices, perpendicular to the tangent at that point; in a curve, a straight line which bisects a system of parallel chords (called principal axis when it cuts them at right angles). transverse axis (in the ellipse and hyperbola): that which passes through the two foci; conjugate axis, that which bisects the transverse one at right angles. The axes of an ellipse are also called major and minor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > other
medial line1570
radius1590
lineature1630
foot line1658
rectification1685
axis1734
slant side1824
radiant1842
transverse1867
median1883
bilinear1923
1734 Builder's Dict. Axis of a Conic Section, is a quiescent Right Line passing through the Middle of the Figure, and cutting all the Ordinates at Right Angles.
1796 C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. (new ed.) I. 177 Axis..more generally..a right line conceived to be drawn from the vertex of a figure to the middle of the base.
1796 C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. (new ed.) I. 177 The ellipse and hyperbola have each two axes; but the parabola has only one, and that infinite in length.
1796 in C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. I. 177 In curves of the second order, that diameter whose parallel ordinates are at right angles to it, when possible, is an Axis.
1849 M. Somerville On Connexion Physical Sci. (ed. 8) xxi. 201 Cut longitudinally, that is, parallel to the axis of the prism.
1853 J. F. W. Herschel Pop. Lect. Sci. (1873) vi. §23. 106 The longer axes or longest dimensions of their orbits.
1879 W. Thomson & P. G. Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) I: Pt. i. §120.
8. Crystallography. An imaginary line drawn between the centres of opposite faces or edges, or the apices of opposite angles. (See quot.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > crystal symmetry > [noun] > axis of symmetry
axis1816
1816 R. Jameson Treat. External Characters Minerals (ed. 2) 239 Three of the cleavages are equiangular and oblique-angular in a common axis.
1866 H. E. Roscoe Lessons Elem. Chem. xviii. 156 In order to classify these different crystals, the existence of certain lines within the crystal called axes is supposed, round which the form can be symmetrically built up.
1878 H. P. Gurney Crystallogr. 30 The straight lines or directions in the crystal which are common to two or more symmetral planes are called axes of symmetry.
9. Optics.
a. A ray passing through the centre of the eye or of a lense, or falling perpendicularly on it; the line which passes through the centres of the lenses in a telescope; the straight line from the eye to the object of sight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > emission of light, radiation > [noun] > line of vision
axle-tree1624
axis1701
principal axisa1764
1701 tr. D. Tauvry New Rational Anat. ii. vii. 205 To direct the two Optick axis's, in looking upon the same object.
?1790 J. Imison School of Arts (ed. 2) 196 If the axis of both eyes are not directed to the object, that object will appear double.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics iv. 28 In all these lenses a line..passing through the centres of their curved surfaces, and perpendicular to their plane surfaces, is called the axis.
1855 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. iii. xiv. 476 Due convergence of the visual axes.
1859 J. R. Dicksee School Perspective i. v. 28 The axis of vision, or line of direction, is an imaginary line proceeding from the eye of the spectator to the perspective centre.
b. axis of incidence: the line passing through the point of incidence perpendicularly to the refracting surface. axis of refraction: the continuation of the same line through the refracting medium. axis of double refraction: the line or direction on both sides of which double refraction takes place, but along which it does not exist.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun] > double refraction > axis of
axis of double refraction1831
1734 Builder's Dict. Axis of Incidence, Refraction.
1796 in C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. I. 178.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xvii. 147 An axis of double refraction..is not like the axis of the earth, a fixed line within the rhomb or crystal. It is only a fixed direction.
1836 Athenæum No. 448. 381 Like calcareous spar it has one axis of double refraction.
10. [In the three following the sense tends to pass into axis of growth or direction as in branch III.] Physiology and Zoology. The central core of an organ or organism; the central skeleton or nervous cord; the central stem or core round which polypes grow; the central column of a whorled shell.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > specific areas or structures > [noun] > centre
axis1741
medulla1741
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > bones of cerebrospinal axis > [noun]
axis1741
neuroskeleton1844
the world > life > the body > positions or directions in body > [noun] > axis of body
axis1820
plane1830
axon1842
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Mollusca > [noun] > Testacea (shelled molluscs) > shelled mollusc > shell > part of
auricle1665
heel1673
lip1681
mouth1681
whirl1681
rib1711
antihelix1721
canal1734
columella1755
vesture1755
body whirl1776
fent1776
pillar1776
pillar-lip1776
septum1786
aperture1794
body whorl1807
costa1812
seam1816
spine1822
umbo1822
varix1822
peristome1828
summit1828
nucleus1833
concameration1835
lunula1835
nympha1836
nymph1839
lunule1842
peritreme1848
body chamber1851
axis1866
umbone1867
liration1904
the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > [noun]
tree1843
myelencephalon1866
axis1873
neuron1884
neuraxis1889
1741 A. Monro Anat. Human Bones (ed. 3) 54 The Powers that draw it towards the Axis of the Bone.
1820 Edinb. Encycl. (1830) XIV. 599 In other species, the organs, which are not in pairs, are arranged round a central axis.
1866 R. Tate Plain & Easy Acct. Mollusks Great Brit. iii. 44 The axis of the shell around which the whorls are coiled.
1873 A. Flint Nerv. Syst. ix. 257 The nervous matter contained in the cavity..is known as the cerebro-spinal axis.
11. Botany.
a. The central column of the inflorescence or other whorl of growth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > inflorescence or collective flower > [noun] > central column or axis
rachis1777
axis1786
1786 Chambers's Cycl. (new ed.) Axis..a taper column placed in the centre of some flowers, or katkins, about which the other parts are disposed.
1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 232 Erica..Seeds attached to a central axis.
b. The main stem and root.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > stem or stalk > [noun] > caudex
caudex1830
axis1835
1835 J. Comstock Young Botanist 239 Axis, centre of vegetation, as the pith of vascular plants.
1835 Penny Cycl. III. 184 Each cluster of leaves is a small branch without perceptible axis.
1857 A. Henfrey Elem. Course Bot. §42 The stem is the ascending portion of the axis.
12. Physical Geography and Geology. A central ridge; the central line of a valley. anticlinal axis: the line along which two opposite planes of stratification meet in a ridge. synclinal axis: the line along which they meet in a depression.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > ridge > [noun] > central
axis1830
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > valley > [noun] > part of
bittemlOE
rakelOE
becka1642
axis1830
thalweg1831
sole1880
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 135 A line of volcanos..parallel to the axis of the older ridge.
1854 R. I. Murchison Siluria ii. 26 These ancient rocks of the Longmynd, which form the mineral axis of Shropshire and Montgomeryshire, and are there seen to rise out from beneath all the fossil-bearing strata.
1854 F. C. Bakewell Geol. 4 The technical name given to such a centre of elevation is the ‘anticlinal axis.’
III. A straight line from pole to pole (cf. 3), or from end to end, of any body.
13. gen. e.g. axis of the equator: the polar diameter of the earth, which is also the axis of rotation; see 3 axis of the ecliptic, axis of the horizon: a diameter of the sphere passing through these circles at right angles to their planes.
ΚΠ
1796 in C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict.
14. spec. An imaginary line uniting the two poles of a magnet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > magnetism > magnetic devices or materials > [noun] > pole of magnet > part joining poles
axis1664
yoke1845
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. iii. 158 If you divide the Magnet through a meridian, or Saw of a Segment, parallel to the Axis.
1832 Nat. Philos. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) II. Magnetism 2/1 The straight line joining the two poles of a magnet is called its axis.
15. A main line of motion, growth, extension, direction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > [noun] > main line of direction
principal axis1793
axis1818
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > most important > other
main chance1584
all the world1600
masterworkc1606
state1656
foreground1817
axis1818
big one1924
1818 W. Lawrence Nat. Hist. Man (1848) i. ii. 99 Its axis [of the femur] coincides with the centre of gravity of the body.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) x. 75 The axis of Baffin's Bay..is from the north by east.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) x. 76 The ice, after changing its original axis of drift.
1854 R. Owen Struct. Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 166 Growth in the direction of the bones' axis comes to an end.
1867 A. Barry Life & Wks. Sir C. Barry vii. 240 The principal axis of the building.
IV. Axis of reference.
16. Geometry. Each of the two intersecting straight lines, by reference to which the position of a certain point, the locus, is determined.Transferred from the geometrical treatment of conic sections.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > geometric space > [noun] > division or marking of > axis
initial line1844
axis1855
1855 Todhunter Plane. Co-ord. Geom.
Compounds
C1. attributive.
axis-ligament n.
ΚΠ
1877 C. H. Burnett Ear 72 In all its motion as a lever the hammer swings about this axis-ligament as a fixed point.
C2.
axis-band n. see quot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > nervous system > substance of nervous system > [noun] > nerve fibre > types of
axis-cylinder1839
axis-band1877
projection fibre1879
radiation1884
associating fibres1885
1877 I. Rosenthal Gen. Physiol. Muscles & Nerves 104 The axis-band, or axis-cylinder.
axis-cylinder n. see quots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > nervous system > substance of nervous system > [noun] > nerve fibre > types of
axis-cylinder1839
axis-band1877
projection fibre1879
radiation1884
associating fibres1885
1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. III. 592/1 A central substance of nervous matter..the axis-cylinder of Rosenthal.
1870 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. (ed. 2) I. i. ii. 27 The central fibre, or axis-cylinder, of a nerve-tube.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
axisn.2
/ˈaksɪs/, U.S. /ˈæksəs/ Zoology.
Name given by Buffon to an Indian deer ( Cervus axis) known by sportsmen as the Hog-deer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > types of deer > [noun] > genus Cervus > Cervus axis (spotted deer)
axis1601
axine1826
chitra1846
chital1880
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. viii. xxi. 206 A wild beast named Axis, with a skin like a fawn.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 123 The horns of the axis are round, like those of the stag.
1859 J. E. Tennent Ceylon I. ii. i. 157 The spotted axis troops in herds as numerous as the fallow deer in England.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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