axle

Etymology 1

From Middle English axel, axle, eaxle, from Old English eaxl (“shoulder, armpit”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahslu (“shoulder”), from Proto-Germanic *ahslō (“shoulder”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs-l-eh₂, from *h₂eḱs- (“axis, axle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian acsle (“shoulder”), Dutch oksel (“armpit”), German Achsel (“armpit”), Swedish axel (“shoulder”), Latin axilla (“armpit”), Latin axis (“axle”), Greek άξονας (áxonas, “axle”), Sanskrit अक्ष (ákṣa, “axle”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣá, “room, armpit”), Russian ось (osʹ, “axle”). Doublet of axis.

noun

1. (obsolete) Shoulder.

Etymology 2

From Middle English axil, in turn a combination of Old English eax and Old Norse ǫxull.

noun

1. The pin or spindle on which a wheel revolves, or which revolves with a wheel.
2. A transverse bar or shaft connecting the opposite wheels of a car or carriage; an axletree.
3. (geometry, astronomy, archaic) An axis.
   the Sun's axle