Where does “axe” come from?

Axe comes from Old English āscian, a word of uncertain ultimate origin traced to Proto-Indo-European roots possibly meaning "to drive" or related to sharpness.

axe (English): A tool for felling trees or chopping wood etc....

Definitions

  1. A tool for felling trees or chopping wood etc....

Ancestry of “axe”, step by step

axe traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English ex

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishexAlternative form of ax
2Old Englishæxan axe, used as a weapon or cutting-tool
3Old Englishæces—
4Proto-West Germanicakusiaxe
5Proto-Germanicakwisīaxe
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂egʷs-ih₂-axe
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂eḱ-sharp

via Middle English axe

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishaxeAlternative form of ax; An ask or demand;...
2Old Englishǣsce—
3Proto-Germanicaiskijǭ—

Words derived from “axe”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂eḱ- →