scythe

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sek-“to cut”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sigiþiz
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*sigiþi
4. Old English · inherited fromsīþe
5. Middle English · inherited fromsythe
6. English todayscythe

From Middle English sythe, sithe, from Old English sīþe, sīgþe, sigdi (“sickle”), from Proto-West Germanic *sigiþi, from Proto-Germanic *sigiþiz, *sigiþō, derived from *seg- (“saw”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Immediate Germanic cognates include Middle Low German sēgede, Dutch zicht, Icelandic sigð (all “sickle”). More distantly related with Dutch zeis, German Sense (both “scythe”). Also akin to English saw, which see. The silent c crept in during the early 15th century owing to folk-etymological association with Medieval Latin scissor (“tailor, carver”), from Latin scindō (“to cut, rend, split”). The verb, which was first used in the intransitive sense, is from the noun.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• before 10th century An instrument for mowing grass, grain, etc. by hand, composed of a long, curving blade with a sharp concave edge, fastened to a long handle called a snath.
• from 1570s To use a scythe.
• from 1570s To cut with a scythe.
• from 1590s To cut off as with a scythe; to mow.