spindle
n.a thin rod or pin that turns around to hold something, like thread on a sewing machine or a spinning disk.
n.a slender, tapered rod or pin that rotates to twist and wind thread, or serves as an axis for a revolving part.
“The thread winds around the wooden spindle.”
“In the factory, the high-speed spindle rotates thousands of times per minute to ensure the metal is cut precisely.”
“During cell division, the mitotic spindle forms a structure of microtubules that orchestrates the accurate segregation of chromosomes into daughter cells.”
Commonly used in mechanical, textile, and biological contexts to describe any rotating axis.
From Middle English spyndel, spindle, spyndylle, from Old English spindle, spindel, alteration of earlier spinel, spinil, spinl (“spindle”), from Proto-West Germanic *spinnilu (“spindle”), equivalent to spin + -le. Cognate with Scots spindil, spinnell (“spindle”), Dutch spindel ("spindle"; < Middle Dutch spille, spinle), German Spindel (“spindle”), Danish spindel (“spindle”), Swedish spindel (“spindle”). The dragonfly sense (noun sense 14) is a calque of Swedish slända (dragonfly/spindle); this word was introduced by New Sweden settlers.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.