Axel
name, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A jump that includes one (or more than one) complete turn and a half turn while in the air.
"Wylie, however, landed his Olympic axels beautifully and electrified the crowd as he capped a skating career that began at age three in Aspen, Colorado, when he followed two older sisters onto the ice."
- 2 Misspelling of axle. alt-of, misspelling
"This end of the Axel is to be faſten'd into a Wheel, exactly like thoſe, which are us'd in many Places, for the roaſting Meat."
- 1 To perform a jump of this kind. intransitive
- 1 A male given name from the Germanic languages in quiet use since the 19th century.
"The riots began after misinformation circulated widely online about the identity and motives of the suspect in the Southport murders, who was named on Thursday as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana. The media had been unable to name the teenager, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, because he is under 18."
- 2 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Mirai Nagasu wants to become the first American woman to complete a triple axel at the Olympics."
Etymology
Named after Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen (1855–1938), who in 1882 became the first to perform the jump.
From Danish Aksel, first used for the bishop and statesman Absalon Hvide (1128–1201), from biblical Absalom. Some sources suggest that the bishop was originally named Áskell, from Old Norse "god" + "cauldron, helmet", and Absalon was chosen as the nearest-sounding Christian equivalent, leading to the exchange of the middle consonants.
Related phrases
More for "axel"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.