Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AX, n. [improperly written axe. Sax. æx, eax, æse; G. axt; Sw. yxe; L. ascia; Gr. αξινη; It. azza; Eth. ሐፀየ hatzi, an ax; or Ar. حَزَّ hazza, to cut; Ch. and Syr. חעינא, hatzina, an ax.]

An instrument usually of iron, for hewing timber and chopping wood. It consists of a head with an arching edge, and a helve or handle. The ax is of two kinds, the broad ax for hewing, and the narrow ax for rough-hewing and cutting. The hatchet is a small ax to be used with one hand.