'axled' originates from Old English, specifically the word 'eaxl' / 'eaxle', where 'eaxl' meant 'axle' (a wheel's shaft).

'axled' developed from Old English 'eaxl/æxle' into Middle English forms such as 'axel'/'axlen' and eventually into the modern English noun 'axle' and its verbal forms (yielding the past form 'axled').

Initially it referred to the shaft or 'shoulder' of a wheel; over time it came to be used for the action or condition 'fitted with an axle' (hence the verbal/adjectival forms).