轴心

軸心

zhóuxīn

noun #36,518

Measure Word

一个轴心 gè

Meanings

1 axle
2 (figurative) pivot / core
3 axis (of an alliance, e.g. WWII Axis powers)

Characters

Examples

他是这个团队的轴心。

Tā shì zhège tuánduì de zhóuxīn.

He is the pivot of this team.

二战时期德意日组成了轴心国。

Èrzhàn shíqī Dé Yì Rì zǔchéng le zhóuxīn guó.

During WWII, Germany, Italy, and Japan formed the Axis powers.

Tips

history

轴心国 (zhóuxīn guó, 'Axis powers') comes from Mussolini's 1936 metaphor of a 'Rome–Berlin axis' (罗马—柏林轴心), later extended to include Tokyo. Today the term is also used loosely in geopolitics — e.g. former US president George W. Bush's 邪恶轴心 ('axis of evil').

Stroke Order

轴 zhóu

心 xīn