Editing Poleaxe (section)

== Etymology ==
Most etymological authorities consider the ''poll''- prefix historically unrelated to "pole", instead meaning "head".<ref>The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] gives the following etymology, s.v. '''Poleaxe''':
:[ME. ''pollax'', ''polax'', Sc. ''powax'' = MDu. ''polaex'', ''pollaex'', MLG. and LG. ''polexe'', ''pollexe'' (whence MSw. 15th c. ''polyxe'', ''pulyxe'', MDa. ''polöxe''), f. ''pol'', [[head|POLL]] n.1, Sc. ''pow'', MDu., MLG. ''polle'', ''pol'' head + [[axe|AXE]]: cf. MDu. ''polhamer'' = poll-hammer, also a weapon of war. It does not appear whether the combination denoted an axe with a special kind of head, or one for cutting off or splitting the head of an enemy.They were especially used for fighting Mounted infantry. In the 16th c. the word began to be written by some ''pole-axe'' (which after 1625 became the usual spelling), as if an axe upon a ''pole'' or long handle. This may have been connected with the rise of sense 2. Similarly, mod.Sw. ''pålyxa'' and Westphalian dial. ''pålexe'' have their first element = pole. Sense 3 may be a substitute for the earlier ''bole-axe'', which was applied to a butcher's axe.]</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Wars of the Roses |author1=Wise, Terence |author2=Embleton, G.A. |isbn=0-85045-520-0 |pages=33 |publisher=Osprey |year=1983 |series=Men at Arms |volume=145}}</ref> However, some etymologists, including [[Eric Partridge]], believe that the word is derived from "pole".<ref>For instance, Partridge gives the following etymology:
:L ''Palus'', stake becomes OE ''pal'', whence ME ''pol'', ''pole'', E ''Pole'', the ME cpd ''pollax'', ''polax'' becomes ''poleaxe'', AE ''poleaxe'': cf AX (E)</ref>