Meanings
- historyThe age from about the 8th to the 3rd century BCE, during which broad changes in religious and philosophical thought occurred in a variety of locations.
This rather speculative explanation of a most important characteristic feature of Axial Age civilizations might be questioned. But it remains a fact that these tensions and the social Freiraum existed in all these societies.
1986, Hermann Kulke, “The Historical Background of India's Axial Age”, in Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, editor, The Origins and Diversity of Axial Age Civilizations, State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 3922 more examples
According to the philosopher Karl Jaspers, the Axial Age encompassed 800-200 B.C.E., with a center at approximately 500.²⁵ Jaspers used the epithet "Axial" because this epoch heralded fundamental and revolutionary changes in human social, religious, and intellectual history.
1991, Mark J. Boda, Daniel K. Falk, Rodney Alan Werline, editors, Early Judaism and Its Literature (Seeking the Favor of God […] ), BRILL, →ISBN, page 102What then of the theory's relevance to the Axial Age? Because Norenzayan is interested in pre-Axial Age gods as well as those of the Axial Age, this makes the theory of limited use in explaining the kinds of gods that arose during the Axial Age.
2018, Stephen K. Sanderson, Religious Evolution and the Axial Age, Bloomsbury Publishing (Bloomsbury Academic), →ISBN, page 203Synonyms: Axis Age
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounThe age from about the 8th to the 3rd century BCE, during which broad changes in religious and philosophical thought occurred in a variety of locations.
Origin
- GermanAchsenzeit
- EnglishAxial Age
Calque of German Achsenzeit.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French période axiale, ère axiale
- période axialeage during which broad changes occurred in religious and philosophical thought
- ère axialeage during which broad changes occurred in religious and philosophical thought
German Achsenzeit
- Achsenzeitage during which broad changes occurred in religious and philosophical thought
Italian periodo assiale
- periodo assialeage during which broad changes occurred in religious and philosophical thought
Cite this entry
Axial Age. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Axial%20Age
“Axial Age.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Axial%20Age. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Axial Age,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Axial%20Age.
Source: Axial Age on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.