Definition of 'axis'
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
axis in British English 1
nounWord forms: plural axes (ˈæksiːz
)
1.
a real or imaginary line about which a body, such as an aircraft, can rotate or about which an object, form, composition, or geometrical construction is symmetrical
2.
4. botany
6. Also called: principal axis optics
8. crystallography
one of three lines passing through the centre of a crystal and used to characterize its symmetry
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C14: from Latin: axletree, earth's axis; related to Greek axōn axis
Word Frequency
axis in British English 2
nounWord forms: plural axises
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C18: from Latin: Indian wild animal, of uncertain identity
Word Frequency
Axis in British English
noun
See the Axis
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
axis in American English 1
nounWord forms: plural ˈaxes (ˈækˌsiz
)
1.
the axis of a planet
2.
a real or imaginary straight line around which the parts of a thing, system, etc.
are symmetrically or evenly arranged or composed
the axis of a picture
3.
a main line of motion, development, etc.
5. Aeronautics
any of the three straight lines, perpendicular to each other, passing through the center of gravity of an aircraft, namely the longitudinal axis from nose to tail, the lateral axis from side to side, and the vertical axis from above to below
8. Geometry
a.
b.
a straight line for measurement or reference, as in a graph
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency
axis in American English 1
(ˈæksɪs)
nounWord forms: plural axes (ˈæksiz)
2. Math
a.
a central line that bisects a two-dimensional body or figure
b.
a line about which a three-dimensional body or figure is symmetrical
3. Anatomy
b.
the second cervical vertebra
4. Botany
5. Analytic Geometry
any line used as a fixed reference in conjunction with one or more other references for determining the position of a point or of a series of points forming a curve or a surface
Compare x-axis, y-axis7. Aeronautics
any one of three lines defining the attitude of an airplane, one being generally determined by the direction of forward motion and the other two at right angles to it and to each other
8. Fine Arts
9.
10. See the Axis
11.
a principal line of development, movement, direction, etc.
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
axised (ˈæksɪst) adjective
Word Frequency
axis in American English 2
(ˈæksɪs)
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1595–1605; ‹ L axis a wild animal of India (Pliny)]Examples of 'axis' in a sentence
axis
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axis
terms used in botanyQuick word challenge
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Question: 1
-
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Which term used in botany am I?
the response of an organism, esp a plant, to an external stimulus by growth in a direction determined by the stimulus
Which term used in botany am I?
any of various small edible fruits such as the blackberry and strawberry
Which term used in botany am I?
tissue in higher plants that conducts synthesized food substances to all parts of the plant
Which term used in botany am I?
any of the separate parts of the calyx of a flower
Which term used in botany am I?
the terminal part of a stamen consisting usually of two lobes each containing two sacs in which the pollen matures
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axis
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In other languages
axis
British English: axis
NOUN /ˈæksɪs/
An axis is an imaginary line through the middle of something.
...the tilt of the Earth's axis.
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Definition of axis from the Collins English Dictionary
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