Axes

The word axes (pronounced ‘ax-eez’) comes from the word axle.

An axle is the bar on which a wheel or a pair of wheels spins. Below is a picture of a bike axle and an old-fashioned car axle.

The axle in each picture goes directly through the centre of each wheel.

An axis is a line that goes directly through the centre. Here is a picture of an axis:

Here are two axes (‘ax-eez’). They both go directly through the centre of the circle.