Middle English: from Old French polie, probably from a medieval Greek diminutive of polos 'pivot, axis'.

• pole from Old English:

  The Old English word from which we get pole, as in ‘flag pole’ or ‘telegraph pole’, meant ‘stake’ and is ultimately from the same source as pale. To be in pole position is to be in a leading or dominant position, from motor racing, where it describes the first place on the starting grid, on the front row, and on the inside of the first bend, but it comes from horse racing. On 19th-century racecourses a pole marked the starting position closest to the inside boundary rails, a favourable position in a race. 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 (Middle English).