Axis of evil
WiktionaryText
Etymology
First used by President George W. Bush in the State of the Union Address in 2002 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html. Possibly from a historical analogy to the German-Italian-Japanese Axis. Extended to astrophysics by João Magueijo in 2005.
Noun
axis of evil
- A group of states sponsoring terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction, originally defined as including Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.
- A preferential axis which may have shaped the development of the universe, sometimes abbreviated AOE.