Achsel
German edit
Etymology edit
From Old High German ahsala, ahsla, from Proto-Germanic *ahslō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- (“axis”). Cognate with Old Norse ǫxl (“shoulder”) and ǫxull (“axle”) (whence Danish aksel, Icelandic öxl), English axle. Also cognate with Latin āxilla (“shoulder joint”), Sanskrit अक्ष (ákṣa, “axle”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Achsel f (genitive Achsel, plural Achseln, diminutive Ächselchen n or Achselchen n)
- armpit, axilla (cavity under the shoulder)
- Er rasiert sich die Achseln.
- He shaves his armpits.
- Er hat Haarstoppeln in den Achseln.
- He has stubbles of hair in his armpits.
- shoulder; shoulder joint (see usage notes below)
- Er zuckte mit den Achseln.
- He shrugged his shoulders.
- Er hat Haarstoppeln unter den Achseln.
- He has stubbles of hair under his arms.
Usage notes edit
- The diminutive forms are both very rare and hardly attestable.
- The normal term for “shoulder” is Schulter. The word Achsel is overall less common in this sense; it usually specifies the outer parts of the shoulders, i.e. what is around the shoulder joint.
Declension edit
Declension of Achsel [feminine]
Synonyms edit
- (armpit): Achselhöhle (more formal)
- (shoulder): Schulter, Schultergelenk
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “Achsel” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Achsel” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “Achsel” in Duden online
- Achsel on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
- Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Achsel”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891