axes

Our Living Language  : Ax, a common nonstandard variant of ask, is often identified as an especially salient feature of African American Vernacular English. While it is true that the form is frequent in the speech of African Americans, it used to be common in the speech of white Americans as well, especially in the South and in the middle sections of the U.S. It was once common among New Englanders, but has largely died out there as a local feature. The widespread use of this pronunciation should not be surprising since ax is a very old word in English, having been used in England for over 1,000 years. In Old English we find both āscian and ācsian, and in Middle English both asken and axen. Moreover, the forms with cs or x had no stigma associated with them. Chaucer used asken and axen interchangeably, as in the lines "I wol aske, if it hir will be/To be my wyf" and "Men axed hym, what sholde bifalle," both from The Canterbury Tales. The forms in x arose from the forms in sk by a linguistic process called metathesis, in which two sounds are reversed. The x thus represents (ks), the flipped version of (sk). Metathesis is a common linguistic process around the world and does not arise from a defect in speaking. Nevertheless, ax has become stigmatized as substandard—a fate that has befallen other words, like ain't, that were once perfectly acceptable in literate circles.

1. A straight line about which a body or geometric object rotates or may be conceived to rotate.

2. Mathematics

   1. An unlimited line, half-line, or line segment serving to orient a space or a geometric object, especially a line about which the object is symmetric.

   2. A reference line from which distances or angles are measured in a coordinate system.

   3. The second cervical vertebra on which the head turns.

   4. Any of various central structures, such as the spinal column, or standard abstract lines used as a positional referent.

   5. An alliance of powers, such as nations, to promote mutual interests and policies.

   6. Axis The alliance of Germany and Italy in 1936, later including Japan and other nations, that opposed the Allies in World War II.

3. A center line to which parts of a structure or body may be referred.

4. An imaginary line to which elements of a work of art, such as a picture, are referred for measurement or symmetry.

5. Anatomy

   1. The second cervical vertebra on which the head turns.

   2. Any of various central structures, such as the spinal column, or standard abstract lines used as a positional referent.

   3. An alliance of powers, such as nations, to promote mutual interests and policies.

   4. Axis The alliance of Germany and Italy in 1936, later including Japan and other nations, that opposed the Allies in World War II.

6. Botany The main stem or central part about which organs or plant parts such as branches are arranged.

7. One of three mutually perpendicular lines that define the orientation of an aircraft, with one being along its direction of travel and the other two being perpendicular to the direction of travel.

8. A line through the optical center of a lens that is perpendicular to both its surfaces.

9. One of three or four imaginary lines used to define the faces of a crystal and the position of its atoms.

10. 1. An alliance of powers, such as nations, to promote mutual interests and policies.

    2. Axis The alliance of Germany and Italy in 1936, later including Japan and other nations, that opposed the Allies in World War II.