battle-axe ‘a heavy broad-headed axe formerly used as a weapon’
Lexical development traced from the Tamil root:
battle + O.E. æces ‘axe, pickaxe, hatchet’ < æx < Proto-G akusjo < agw(e)si ‘axe’ < aks < ak < Tamil akku
Other meaning: a woman held to be antagonistic or overbearing.