Etymology

crux simplex

Today it means: A single beam or pole without a cross bar for executions. Full definition →

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The story

Unadapted borrowing from Latin; specifically, Medieval Latin, as this collocation to name the pole used by the ancient Romans comes from Justus Lipsius (1547–1606) rather than from their own use of Latin (Classical Latin).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.