pole [OE] The Old English word from which we get pole, as in ‘flag pole’, meant ‘stake’ and is ultimately from the same source as *pale. On 19th-century racecourses a pole marked the starting position closest to the inside boundary rails, a favourable position in a race. This gave us in pole position, later transferred to motor racing. Pole as in North Pole is from Latin polus ‘end of an axis’, from Greek polos ‘pivot, axis, sky’. The adjective polar dates from the mid 16th century and is from medieval Latin polaris ‘heavenly’, from polus. The Pole Star, or Polaris, is the star around which the stars appear to rotate. Polos is also the probable source of pulley [LME].