1. The alliance of Nazi Germany and Fascist
Italy before and during World War II.  The
Rome-Berlin Axis was formed 1936, when Italy
was being threatened with sanctions because
of its invasion of Ethiopia (Abyssinia).  It
became a full military and political alliance
May 1939.  A 10-year alliance between
Germany, Italy, and Japan (Rome-Berlin-Tokyo
Axis) was signed Sept 1940 and was
subsequently joined by Hungary, Bulgaria,
Romania, and the puppet states of Slovakia
and Croatia.  The Axis collapsed with the
fall of Mussolini and the surrender of Italy
1943, followed by Germany and Japan 1945.

2. In mathematics, a line from which 
measurements may be taken, as in a coordinate
axis; or a line about which an object may be
symmetrical, as in an axis of symmetry; or a
line about which an object or plane figure
may revolve.

Subject by: Russell Webb