Re: [tied] Re: An odd etymology

At 5:57:10 PM on Friday, May 21, 2004, Anthony Appleyard
wrote:

> At 7:09:21 AM on Tuesday, May 18, 2004, tgpedersen wrote:

>> One more thing about Greek <pelekus> "axe" etc: English
>> has <pole-axe>, which has nothing to do with a pole.

> Someone wrote:-
>> Indeed; it's a 'head-axe' (<poll> 'crown of the head').

> A pole-axe was called a "head-axe" because it was used to
> kill large animals (e.g. cattle) by chopping it into their
> heads.

That seems more than a bit doubtful: the OED has citations
as early as the 14th century for <pollax> as a weapon, while
the earliest citation pertaining to the killing of animals
is from 1719.

Brian