From Old English 'æcs,' PIE *h₂egʷ-si- — one of the oldest tool-names in any language, with cognates spanning nearly every Indo-European branch.
A tool with a heavy blade mounted at right angles to a handle, used for chopping wood, felling trees, or as a weapon.
From Old English 'æcs' or 'acas,' from Proto-Germanic *akusī, from the PIE root *h₂egʷ-si- meaning 'axe,' likely derived from *h₂eḱ- ('sharp'). The word is one of the oldest reconstructable tool-names in PIE, with cognates in nearly every branch: Latin 'ascia,' Greek 'axīnē,' and possibly Sanskrit 'aśani' (thunderbolt). The spelling 'axe' with a final -e is the traditional British form; 'ax' without the -e is older and preferred in American English. Key
The spelling debate between 'axe' and 'ax' has raged for centuries. Noah Webster championed the shorter 'ax' in his 1828 dictionary, and it remains the preferred American form, while the British 'axe' preserves the Middle English spelling. Both are considered correct, but major American newspapers traditionally use 'ax.'