Is “axis” singular or plural?
Axis is a singular noun. Axes (pronounced axe–eeze) is the only correct plural of axis. Not to be confused with the common wood chopping bushcraft tool, the axe, the plural here is axes (sounds like ax–is). These are different words entirely, with completely unrelated meanings; they’re also pronounced differently. Learn the difference and a whole lot more, all in this post!
What the definition of the word axis/axes?
The Merriam-Webster defines the word axis as, “an imaginary line about which a body rotates.” According to Cambridge Dictionary, axes are
A real or imaginary straight line going through the centre of a object that is spinning, or a line that divides a symmetrical shape into two equal halves: The earth revolves around the axis that joins the North and South Poles.
What’s the plural of axis?
The plural of axis (axes), is irregular. Though it ends in –es as a plural, it does so by replacing its ending in the singular case. Usually, nouns add on the -es/-s to show a plural: books, phones, dogs and cats. This makes things easy: to form a plural noun, just add the s, et vóila, you have a plural noun. Not so fast; with words like axis, analysis, diagnosis, crisis, oasis, thesis, synopsis (the list is long) pluralization isn’t as straightforward.
For each of the just mentioned (originally Greek) words/nouns, to denote a plural, the -ses replaces –sis in the singular. The operative word here is ‘replaces‘. For each of these irregular plurals (i.e., hypnosis, thesis, synopsis, crisis, oasis) to modify as a plural, the –ses suffix take the place of the singular case, –sis. See the chart.
Nouns that end in -sis/-ses
| singular | plural |
| parenthesis | parentheses |
| crisis | crises |
| diagnosis | diagnoses |
| oasis | oases |
| synopsis | synopses |
| thesis | theses |
Examples of “axis” in context
1. Of all the planets, Mars has an axis line that is the closest to the rotating point of our.
2. The horizontal line and the vertical line on a coordinate plane are known as the X-axis and the Y-axis respectively.
3. The wheel is revolving about its axis.
4. Tilting on its axis, the Earth is constantly rotating.
5. Rotate it along its axis and its silhouette remains the same.
Examples of “axes” in context
1. The ratio of the axes of the ellipse is sec a, the longer axis being in the plane of 0.
2. The vertical axes shows the rate of growth in inflation-adjusted GDP.
3. That, when both pieces rotate, their axes, and all their points of contact, lie in the same plane.
4. We can label the axes – time is on the horizontal axis, and the amount (or value) of money is shown on the vertical axis.
5. The axes will not be parallel, nor will they intersect each other.
Synonyms of axis
- pole
- pivot
- hinge
What’s the difference between they’re, their, and there?
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