ἄξος

Uncertain. If it is related to synonymous ἀγμός (agmós, “fracture; cliff”), perhaps from the same stem as ἄγνυμι (ágnumi, “to break, shatter”), as already implied by Stephanus of Byzantium. Otherwise from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-s- (“sharp edge”) (like ὀξῠ́ς (oxŭ́s, “sharp”)), or Pre-Greek.

ἄξος • (áxos) m (genitive ἄξου); second declension

1. (Cretan, hapax legomenon) cliff, crag

   Synonym: ἀγμός (agmós)

• Invoked by Stephanus of Byzantium to explain the place-name Ὀαξός (Oaxós):
  • c. 6th century CE, Stephanus Byzantius, Ethnica:

    Τινὲς δὲ διὰ τὸ καταγῆναι τὸν τόπον καὶ κρημνώδη ὑπάρχειν· καλοῦσι γὰρ τοὺς τοιούτος τόπους ἄξους καθάπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀγμούς

    Tinès dè dià tò katagênai tòn tópon kaì krēmnṓdē hupárkhein; kaloûsi gàr toùs toioútos tópous áxous katháper kaì hēmeîs agmoús

    Some [say] that because of "breaking" the place is now percipitous: for they call such places "áxous", just like we [call them] "agmoús".

• “ἄξος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ἄξος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• 1 ἄξος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)

Uncertain. Witczak (1995) connects it with Ancient Greek ὀξύα (oxúa, “beech”), for which he reconstructs (the equivalent of) Proto-Indo-European *h₂óḱsu-.^[1]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ἄξος (áxos)

1. (hapax legomenon) a kind of wood

• Only attested as a hapax in Hesychius:
  • 5th century CE, Hesychius Alexandreus, Συναγωγὴ Πασῶν Λέξεων κατὰ Στοιχεῖον Α:

    ἄξος· ὕλη, παρὰ Μακεδόσιν

    áxos; húlē, parà Makedósin

    áxos: wood, among the Macedonians

• Hesychius' Lexicon: α
• “ἄξος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• 2 ἄξος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)