Link Centre Dictionary

scythe

UK/ˈsaɪð/ US/ˈsaɪθ/ uncommon
noun (1) verb (1)

noun

1.

an edge tool for cutting grass; has a long handle that must be held with both hands and a curved blade that moves parallel to the ground

verb

1.

cut with a scythe

  • “scythe grass or grain”

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • nature's scythe
  • scythe down

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.